SCRANTON, Pa. – A former local teachers union president faces up to five years in prison for allegedly embezzling more than $30,000 from her union in the Wyoming Area School District.

Lisa Barrett, 48, who recently resigned as a high school technology teacher, faces a single charge of embezzlement from a labor organization, which carries a maximum of five years in prison, three years of probation and a quarter-million dollar fine, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reports.

Court records indicate state authorities will recommend a reduced sentence in exchange for an admission of guilt, but didn’t offer specifics. The judge isn’t required to accept the recommendations or the plea deal, according to the Times Leader.

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“The school board accepted Barrett’s resignation as a district teacher at its Aug. 20 meeting,” reports CitizensVoice.com. “The school district will ‘look into’ whether the charges would prevent Barrett from receiving a retirement pension, district solicitor Jarrett Ferentino said after Tuesday’s (school board) meeting.”

Ironically, the charges were filed in the midst of a teachers strike at Wyoming Area schools, CitizensVoice.com reports.

A spokesman for the state teachers union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, told the news site Barrett is no longer a union member and the PSEA didn’t help with her defense. Barrett is represented by her own attorney, Christopher Powell, according to PSEA spokesman Paul Shemansky.