A former Iowa State employee accused of improperly drawing $68,000 in funds from the university entered a plea of guilty in late March.

Pamela Backstrom, 56, who worked for the research center from August 2013 to January 2016, pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and will face the court at 10 a.m. April 24. 

Backstrom was accused of embezzling funds from the Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE) programs account belonging to the the university. The non-profit research center hosts a conference annually and receives funds from the university’s Center for Nondestructive Evaluation.

An investigation that ended with Backstrom’s arrest began after the Iowa State Police Department was alerted of funds not supported by the university amounting to $71,000. 

Backstrom was held in the Story County Jail after her arrest. 

Of the money that Backstrom was accused of embezzling, $62,000 was made up of cash-only withdrawals.