State Auditor Stacey Pickering has presented Covington County Sheriff Ben Ford with a $25,000 check, representing about a third of what a longtime bookkeeper had embezzled.

Pickering made the presentation Wednesday in Collins.

Pickering said former bookkeeper Winnie Hathorne, who had worked for the sheriff’s office for nearly 25 years, would continue to make installments to pay off her remaining debt. The money came from her bond company.

Hathorne, who pleaded guilty to embezzlement, was sentenced in October to three years house arrest and ordered to pay $77,847 restitution.

Ford says the money would be returned to the county’s general fund, and eventually split between his department and justice court.