Amanda Devine, who served as treasurer of Kidder Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 until her arrest in September, has agreed to plead guilty to theft in exchange for the dropping of a second felony charge of receiving stolen property.

Devine appeared in front of District Magistrate Joseph Homanko on Wednesday without an attorney. Devine did not meet the requirements for a public defender and chose not to hire private counsel.In discussions with the Carbon County Second Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Dydra-Hatton, Devine agreed to waive the preliminary hearing in exchange for a guilty plea to the third degree felony theft by unlawful taking or disposition.Dydra-Hatton consulted with Nathan Lipton, a forensic auditor and investigator with the Auditor General's office, as well as Kidder Township Police Chief Matthew Kuzma and Detective Neil Yurchak.The stipulation also requires Devine to pay restitution in the amount of $32,821.33 to the surety company.Earlier this week, Devine created a GoFundMe page to ask friends and members of her family to help raise money for a deposit on a new place to live. According to the post, Devine, her husband John and their three children were about to be evicted and did not have the money to secure a new place to live as well as the cost of securing a moving truck for the move.Devine's post indicated that she was concerned that her children might be separated during the upcoming holidays and that she did not want to move her son from his current school.Devine apparently did not expect the page to become public, but one of her friends shared the page on Facebook. Devine was viciously attacked on the site, although several people did come to her defense.Before removing the post, Devine defended her creation of the GoFundMe page.Devine made it clear that she was never asking for anyone to pay her legal costs or to buy Christmas presents for her kids, but that she was trying to keep a roof over their heads."Unfortunately, you are all going based on what you have heard via the news, or via various sources inside the fire company that are putting their own twist on the story," said Devine. "As of right now, yes I have been CHARGED with a crime, but I have not been CONVICTED of anything."Devine added that there remains others, still within the fire company who have "stolen during this time period (2011-15) from the fire department, and continue to do so."Lipton was asked specifically whether or not his forensic audit of the fire company's Firemen's Relief Fund indicated that any other funds had been taken, or if the audit pointed to any other person other than Devine had taken money."No, our audit showed that the records proved that there was an environment conducive to fraud and that she (Devine) was the only person the records pointed to," Lipton said."We have not received any complaints or evidence from anyone else with regard to any stolen property or money from the Kidder Volunteer Fire Company at this time," said Police Chief Kuzma.Devine will appear Jan. 19 before Carbon County Judge, Joseph Matika, at which time she will enter her guilty plea."I doubt that she will see any jail time," Kuzma said.Kuzma has said from the beginning of the investigation that Devine was at all times cooperative with the department.