Susan Kinney, who was an employee at the Seattle Rotary for 22 years, pleaded guilty Wednesday to siphoning off thousands of dollars from the service organization's charity fund, which she used to buy cars and pay for vacations.

Kinney pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree theft for embezzling more than $350,000, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office. Kinney faces up to nearly five years in prison when she is sentenced on April 1.

Prosecutors will recommend a high end sentence when Kinney returns to court, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

As part of the guilty plea, Kinney has agreed to pay $356,000 in restitution, Donohoe added.

In September, the Redmond woman was charged with more than 100 felony counts of theft -- 78 counts of first-degree theft and 44 counts of second-degree theft. An auditor hired to investigate the foundation's funds found that $356,172.66 was missing, court charges said

Kinney is accused of writing checks to herself out of the Rotary Service Foundation's account between June 16, 2003, and Dec. 28, 2008, according to charging papers filed in King County Superior Court. Kinney was a mid-level manager at the 700-member Rotary and worked in the Service Foundation, or charitable branch.

The Seattle Rotary at 700 members is one of the world's largest, Nancy Sclater, past president at the Rotary, told The Times in September.