The Lakewood Ranch former candidate will perform community service after lying about having graduated from Miami University.

Former District 73 state House candidate Melissa Howard has reached a deal with prosecutors in the misdemeanor fraud case stemming from her fake college diploma and will perform 25 hours of community service.

Howard signed the deferred prosecution agreement Friday. Under the terms of Howard’s probation she must perform her community service within the next two months, not violate any laws, “not use intoxicants to excess,” maintain “stable, lawful employment” or be enrolled in an education program and pay certain court costs, among other requirements.

The arrangement is standard for defendants accused of a misdemeanor who do not have a criminal record. If Howard completes the terms of her 90-day probation she will not formally be charged with a crime.

“We believe that this sanction holds Mrs. Howard accountable for her actions,” said Darlene Ragoonanan, the misdemeanor and juvenile division chief in Manatee County for the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.

Howard, a Republican Lakewood Ranch business owner, dropped out of the District 73 race last month after it was revealed she lied about graduating from Miami University and went to great lengths to deceive people about having a degree.

Howard displayed pictures of what she claimed to be her diploma.

The diploma stated that Howard had a degree in marketing. But the story quickly fell apart when the university’s general counsel stated that Howard never graduated from the school and that the diploma “does not appear to be an accurate Miami University diploma.” Miami University doesn’t even offer a degree in marketing.

The strange story of a candidate touting a fake college diploma attracted national attention. The New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News and CNN all covered the story. It even ran in a news outlet in New Zealand.

In addition to generating media scrutiny, the fake degree raised legal questions.

Law enforcement officials have been looking into whether Howard violated Florida statute 817.566, which states that “Any person who, with intent to defraud, misrepresents his or her association with, or academic standing or progress at, any post-secondary educational institution by falsely making, altering, simulating, or forging” a degree, commits a misdemeanor.

An investigation by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office found that Howard “intended to defraud.”

“The defendant Melissa Howard, intended to defraud and misrepresent her association and academic standing with Miami University,” wrote a Sheriff’s Office investigator. “Furthermore, the defendant produced the fictitious diploma and uttered it as being awarded to her as true, while knowing it to be false.”