BRUNSWICK — A former Atlantic Regional Federal Credit Union worker pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland to stealing more than $500,000 from her former employer.

From November 2004 to October 2010, Marsha Richard, 42, of Topsham, manipulated accounting entries for checks that credit union members deposited, but that had been returned for insufficient funds.

Instead of transferring the money back to Atlantic, she put the money into her own bank account, or that of a friend or family member.

Richard faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison, and a $1 million fine. She will be sentenced after completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.