Jackson, Miss –Kenyatta Smith, former Health Information Clerk for the Washington County Health Department, pled guilty to embezzlement and was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount $653.25.

Smith entered a fictitious child into the WIC system and received food benefits over the course of two years.

“It’s an unfortunate situation when a government employee is embezzling money from a program that so many depend on,” said State Auditor Stacey Pickering. “Thanks to the Mississippi Legislature, state employees who are convicted felons can no longer work for the State of Mississippi, or any other governmental entity in the state.”

Smith was an employee at the Washington County Health Department since May of 2010.