VALPARAISO | A woman accused of stealing more than $70,000 from an attorney while she served as his secretary was charged Wednesday with three felonies.

Trina R. Grutzius, 29, of Lowell, was charged with one count of forgery and two counts of theft. She faces as many as 14 years in prison if convicted.

Grutzius is accused of stealing the money from Valparaiso attorney Matt Soliday in 2007 and 2008. She also is accused of forging his name on a Chase Bank credit card application in 2002, then having an outstanding balance of $4,614 on the card as of October when the forgery was discovered.

Soliday told police he discovered the forgery and theft and confronted Grutzius. The attorney said Grutzius admitted that whenever a client paid with cash, she issued a receipt to the client, destroyed the office copy and kept the money. Valparaiso Detective Lt. John Ross, who investigated the case, said Grutzius admitted committing the crimes to pay for her drug habit.

This is the fourth such theft in Valparaiso in about 10 months.

Earlier this month, Kimberly Shields, 43, of 254 Lincolnway, Valparaiso, who was office manager at Seven Napoleon Partnership in Valparaiso was charged with stealing more than $12,000 from the business.

In December, Julie Rosenbaum, 27, who has addresses in Portage and Valparaiso, was charged with stealing $15,000 to $20,000 from the Valparaiso law firm that employed her -- Douglas, Koeppen & Hurley.

In March, Amanda Dunlap, 30, of Rensselaer, was charged stealing more than $35,000 from her employer, Valparaiso attorney Gordon Etzler.