A Pottsville woman who admitted to stealing $452,186 in public money has been sentenced to 12 months in federal prison.

Virginia Kunigonis, now 54, must also pay back the amount she stole as an employee of the Schuylkill County Conservation District. The alleged thefts occurred between 2007 and 2014.Kunigonis was sentenced by Judge William W. Caldwell on Wednesday.Prior to the conviction, the county’s retirement board voted unanimously to transfer Kunigonis’ pension entitlement to federal prosecutors, complying with a previous court order.Caldwell had recently allowed the U.S. attorney’s office to seize Kunigonis’ pension assets to help make restitution for the money she stole, board solicitor Al Marshall said. Prosecutors have also filed a suit to seize her home for the same purpose.Kunigonis, 50, admitted in October to stealing more than $400,000 in public money between 2007 and 2014, while she was employed by the Schuylkill County Conservation District. She admitted to forging officials’ signatures on fraudulent checks, and using the money for vacations and other expenses.Kunigonis’ pension funds will eventually go toward restitution for the funds that she stole from the Conservation District, Marshall said.As of the day she was convicted, Oct. 15, 2015, Kunigonis had accrued $105,204.78 in pension benefits -- $57,600 which she had directly contributed.Under Pennsylvania’s Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act, employees may be able to keep the money that they contribute themselves.But the federal court order required the county to designate all Kunigonis’ funds — contributions and interest — to the federal government.The restitution won’t affect the county, which was insured against the theft and got a payout last year, officials said.Victims must make applications in order to receive restitution, Marshall said. Some of the people who may apply include vendors who worked with the conservation district, and the insurance company that paid the county.Between 2007 and 2014, Kunigonis embezzled more than $407,000 by writing fraudulent checks to herself and forging a supervisor’s signature. She allegedly used the funds for trips to Disney and other personal expenses.A forensic audit found a lack of segregation of duties due to the agency’s small size, and a failure to record transactions when they were processed.Kunigonis worked at the Conservation District from 2002 through 2014. Before that, she had worked in Schuylkill county government in various capacities since 1986.