PORTLAND — A credit union employee accused of embezzling more than a half-million dollars is going to federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II says 42-year-old Marsha Richard of Topsham was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for theft by a credit union employee.

Prosecutors say Richard stole the money from Atlantic Regional Federal Credit Union in Brunswick by manipulating accounting entries for checks that credit union members had deposited but that had been returned for insufficient funds. She pleaded guilty in September.

The credit union, not the individual members, suffered the loss from Richard’s theft. Brunswick police and the FBI led the investigation.