Former IRS agent gets probation for theft

A former Internal Revenue Service agent has been spared any prison time after admitting she was paid for meetings with taxpayers that never occurred.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says Becky L. Book, of Pittsburg, was sentenced on Tuesday to two years of probation and ordered to pay restitution of about $26,450.

Book pleaded guilty in February to receiving more than $26,000 in salary and mileage payments that she didn’t earn.

Prosecutors say Book claimed she worked 744 hours between March 2010 and April 2011, but she actually used those hours as unauthorized personal time.

Book agreed to pay $13,000 in partial payment of restitution at her sentencing.