CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Beaufort County's former clerk of court has pleaded guilty to a federal charge.
U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles says 48-year-old Elizabeth Smith pleaded guilty to conversation of public money in Charleston Thursday.
A federal grand jury indicted Smith in September for using $68,500 in federal child support money to pay her husband's salary while he worked for the Beaufort County Drug Court.
Smith was sentenced last year to five years probation for embezzling more than $23,000 from public accounts. State prosecutors said Smith used the money to buy insurance policies for family members and to make payments on a home on Pawleys Island.
In February, the South Carolina Supreme Court revoked Smith's law license.
Smith will be sentenced later on the federal charge. She faces up to 10 years in prison.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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