A Pontiac mother has pleaded no contest to welfare fraud charges in the investigation of three children left abandoned for years in their Southeast Michigan home. 

Kelli Bryant was in Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court in Pontiac on Monday for a pretrial hearing on the case. She was previously bound over for trial on three counts of child neglect and three counts of welfare fraud involving nearly $30,000. The fraud charges resulted from an investigation by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. 

Judge Mary Ellen Brennan agreed to a plea agreement for Bryant to serve probation and pay restitution for the welfare benefits. She is due for sentencing Jan. 28, court records show. 

In the meantime, she still faces jail time on the three first-degree felony counts of child neglect. Pretrial on those charges will also be Jan. 28. 

"The resolution of the welfare fraud charges in no way impacts the case against Kelli Bryant on the more serious allegations of child abuse," Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said after the hearing adjourned. "We fully intend to hold her accountable for the abuse these children suffered because of her alleged neglect."

The children were discovered Feb. 14 after a landlord of the home in the 600 block of Lydia Lane in Pontiac said rent had not been paid for months and he was concerned about the circumstances. 

When Oakland County deputies arrived, they found three children living among mold, waste and garbage. The children were a 15-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl, whom authorities believed to have had little contact with an adult for years.