A Windsor woman who served as a branch manager for the Vermont VA Federal Credit Union will avoid jail time but have to pay more than $135,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to a charge of credit union fraud. 

Tracy Thibodeau, 47, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Burlington on the felony conviction, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont.

Judge William K. Sessions III ordered Thibodeau to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $136,937 in restitution, the release added. 

Thibodeau, according to charging documents, started working at the credit union in 2015 and was promoted to branch manager in White River Junction around 2016.

Thibodeau misused her authority to open a personal credit card at the financial institution without obtaining the proper authorization from her superiors, according to the court filings.

Between April 2019 and February 2021, Thibodeau used the card to make more than $140,000 in purchases, during which time she made only small monthly payments toward her large account balance, according to investigators.

The credit union discovered the fraud in April 2022 and fired Thibodeau, who was later indicted by a federal grand jury on the credit union fraud charge.