A former Mississippi Department of Corrections officer has been sentenced to house arrest on an embezzlement charge.

Gerald D. Jones Jr. was sentenced Wednesday by Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger.

Yerger agreed to house arrest sentence after local officials questioned whether Jones could be targeted by other prisoners if locked up.

Jones pleaded guilty to three counts of embezzlement.

Jones also was ordered to make restitution of $660 to MDOC.

Prosecutors said Jones, while working as an MDOC probation officer, took money in exchange for probationers assigned to his case load being released from probation early.