A Chester County woman accused of selling thoroughbreds for slaughter instead of finding people to adopt them as promised can enter a program for first-time offenders under a deal with prosecutors.

Kelsey Lefever of Honey Brook waived a preliminary hearing Wednesday on charges of theft by deception.

Prosecutors say she promised horse owners she would put four of the animals up for adoption but instead sold them to an agent for a Canadian slaughterhouse.

Lefever bought the four retired racehorses at Penn National Race Course between May 13 and 16 under an agreement that she would care for, retrain and give the horses new careers in new homes, according to newspaper records.

Instead, Lefever sold the horses at the New Holland Horse Auction on May 16 for slaughter for human consumption.

Dauphin County First Assistant District Attorney Francis Chardo told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Lefever will be banned from working at horse tracks and won't be allowed to obtain additional horses for two years.

Defense attorney Michael Sheldon said the resolution was in his client's best interest. He said Lefever's love of horses hasn't diminished.