A Philadelphia woman admitted in Carbon County court on Tuesday to stealing blank checks from her grandmother, forging her name to them, and then cashing them for her own benefit.

Aleasha Shineece Hayes, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of forgery, admitting she stole 35 checks from her grandmother, Diane Aker, of Kidder Township, and then writing them out to herself and cashing them for a total of $9,400. She was arrested by township police on April 1, 2014.Defense Attorney Matthew Mottola of the public defender's office, said his client had a close relationship with her grandmother, who raised her from age 14, but took advantage of that relationship to steal. He said Hayes would like to some day have a relationship with her grandmother again, but doesn't know if that would ever happen.Mrs. Aker told the court she didn't want her granddaughter to go to jail, but she wanted her to keep doing what she is doing to get her life back on track.Hayes said she was working in the Reading area and plans to move there soon.Matika told the defendant, "You've taken advantage of her."Matika placed her on probation for three years and ordered her to render 100 hours of community service, get both drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations, supply a DNA sample, pay court costs of about $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation, and make restitution to her grandmother of $9,400.