A bank branch manager who admitted to stealing more than $46,000 over the course of 14 months faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Mia Shawnette Butterfield, 37, of Wellington Slip Road, St. George?s changed her plea to guilty in Supreme Court yesterday.

Butterfield pleaded guilty to stealing $41,960.67 in Bermudian currency and $4,340 in American currency from the Bank of Butterfield between September 30, 2001 and January 21, 2003.

Lawyer Mark Pettingill said it was his client?s first offence and asked for a social inquiry report to be conducted before she was sentenced.

After she changed her plea, Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves directed the foreman of the seven-woman, five-man jury to find Butterfield guilty of stealing.

She pleaded not guilty to the charge of fraudulent accounting, but Crown counsel Paula Tyndale said she would offer no further evidence against Butterfield on that charge.

Mr. Justice Greaves ordered the foreman to find Butterfield not guilty of false accounting.

Om Monday, Ms Tyndale said Butterfield had been branch manager of the bank?s St. George?s branch and had acted as a relief teller when necessary.

In both jobs, she was required to hold cash in a cash box, and an internal audit of cash boxes in January, 2003 revealed that approximately $35,000 in Bermuda currency and $4,340 in American currency was missing.

Another $6,900 was allegedly stolen by Butterfield with the assistance of the branch's head teller, Joanne Outerbridge, between December, 2002 and January, 2003.

?The head teller was under the direct control of Butterfield,? Ms Tyndale said.

The judge released Butterfield on bail to appear in court on April 1, for a sentencing date to be set.