The Tampa police informer at the center of a fraud scandal pleaded guilty last week to welfare fraud charges, the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office said.
Rita Girven admitted to charges of grand theft and public assistance fraud. Prosecutors, in exchange, dropped charges of food stamp fraud.
A judge sentenced Girven to 18 months in state prison, most of which she has already served.
Girven, a longtime informer for the Tampa police, was charged in October 2013 after she allowed then Tampa police sergeant Joyce Houston to use her EBT card to buy more than $300 in groceries. Houston was a personal friend of Girven's.
Houston was also charged and last fired from the police department. The case against her was later dismissed.