A 25-year-old former Petal school teacher, who was charged in January with having sex with a student, has pleaded guilty.

Loni Marie Folks on Tuesday was given a 12-year suspended sentence by Forrest County Circuit Judge Bob Helfrich. Helfrich ordered Folks to serve five years of post-supervised release. Folks was also ordered to pay $2,600 in fines and register as a sex offender.

She faced a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Folks’ arrest came after Petal police discovered the W.L. Smith Elementary school teacher was having sex with a 16-year-old foreign exchange student from Italy.