Yellowknife (Jan 22/07) - A Behchoko woman has been sentenced to a 12-month conditional sentence for defrauding the government of the Northwest Territories of $22,300.

Janice Mantla was working in Behchoko as a social welfare officer for the Dogrib Board of Education when she entered false data into computer systems and issued cheques to her family.

She wrote 35 cheques from 1997 to 2002.

She was sentenced in Supreme Court Jan. 12 by Chief Justice Ted Richard.

Her sentence requires that she stay in her Behchoko residence for 12-months. The conditions include being able to leave for work, school, church, and grocery shopping.

Mantla must also pay a minimum of $400 per month to pay off the rest of the money she took.

She has already paid back close to $11,000 through garnished wages and income tax refunds, as well as direct payments. "I wish you good luck," concluded Justice Richard.

Crown and defense lawyers agreed that a sentence of imprisonment was required, said Justice Richard. They also agreed that a sentence served in Behchoko would not serve any danger to the community.

Calling the crime "a serious one," Justice Richard said her actions were "a breach of trust placed in her by her community."

However, he said that Mantla had no previous criminal record and many character references from Behchoko residents. These facts, a long history of volunteering in the community and her early guilty plea, all added up to make for a lesser sentence, said the judge.