Former civilian Royal Newfoundland Constabulary staff member Angela Marie McCarthy has been sentenced to nine months in jail for tipping off suspects in a drug investigation.

McCarthy, 32, was handed down her sentence in a Corner Brook courtroom on Wednesday morning.

The Benoit's Cove woman was charged in April 2014 after it was discovered she had tipped off the targets of a drug investigation.

McCarthy had told two of her cousins that they were being investigated by the RNC-RCMP Combined Forces Drug Unit.

Judge Wayne Gorman ended up siding with the Crown's suggestion of a nine-month sentence. The defence thought a term of house arrest was more appropriate.

In a written decision, Gorman cited the serious breach of trust as a reason for McCarthy's jail term, "because of the need to deter employees of police forces from alerting suspects to the presence of an ongoing investigation against them."

She was fired after the RNC was notified by a source that a female employee of the force had been meddling in their investigation.

McCarthy had been employed as a clerk for six years.

During a police interview in April 2014, McCarthy admitted telling one of her cousins that she had seen his photograph posted at the police station.

She said she told her relative, "Your picture is on the wall, so watch out. You are being watched. I need you to stop."

McCarthy said she warned her cousin of the investigation as a way to get both cousins' lives on the straight and narrow.

"This is not a matter of a person encouraging a relative to make changes to their lifestyle," Gorman wrote.

McCarthy, who has no prior convictions, is considered a low-risk to re-offend.

Gorman said that a year in jail would be appropriate but dropped it to nine months, based on the Crown's submission.