A Columbia Falls woman has pleaded not guilty to charges in a pair of cases, including one alleging she stole nearly $2,500 in scratch lottery tickets from a Kalispell convenience store.

Kelly Church, 30, entered her pleas Thursday in Flathead County District Court to felony charges of theft and failure to register as a violent offender.

A court document  alleges Church stole the tickets from the Kalispell Town Pump and collecting more than $1,300 in payouts  from winning tickets.

In the second case, Church is accused of living in Flathead County after having reported she had moved to Colorado in June 2011.

The charging document states that Church is required to be registered as a violent offender due to a March 2007 conviction for felony menacing in Centennial, Colo.

The next hearings for Church are June 11.

Embezzler gets deferred sentence

A Columbia Falls woman has been given a deferred sentence after embezzling nearly $11,500 from her employer.

Aimee Gress, 44, was sentenced Thursday in Flathead District Court by District Judge David Ortley after pleading guilty to felony theft.

The owner of Glacier Marble and Granite contacted the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 15, 2013, and said that Gress, the company’s bookkeeper, had embezzled $11,493 from the business’ bank account.

Gress admitted to the owner and another man that she had taken the money, subsequently returning $275, resigning and signing a confession form.

She later admitted to a county detective and a U.S. Secret Service agent that she took $11,493 by writing herself 10 checks, and that she had spent all but the $275 that she returned.

In addition to the deferred sentence, Ortley ordered Gress to pay $1,060 in restitution, a $1,000 fine and an $800 public defender fee.