Former Oklahoma FBI agent pleads guilty to embezzlement

Klotz also admitted forging signatures on documents to accomplish the embezzlement.

Klotz, of Yukon, told a judge he was supposed to pay his sources with the money he took.

U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange will decide his punishment later this year.

The maximum penalty for the felony offense is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“Not all people who commit crimes are criminals,” his attorney, Michael Johnson, told The Oklahoman afterward. “This was just an unfortunate case based on unfortunate circumstances beyond Mr. Klotz's control.”

Klotz admitted taking money from the FBI's Confidential Human Source fund from Oct. 17, 2007, to Dec. 16, 2011.

The FBI in Oklahoma City discovered the embezzlement during an internal audit, prosecutors said.

Klotz resigned from the FBI after being suspended without pay Jan. 10. He was special agent for more than 15 years and was involved in counterintelligence investigations.

He remains free until his sentencing. The judge ordered him to stay out of gaming institutions. Klotz reported in a bankruptcy petition Jan. 30 that he had $11,000 in gambling losses over the past year.