Steal a candy bar – get a court-mandated 8-hour theft class. Steal $53 million dollars and what kind of punishment do you get? Interested – then read on Brother!

The thief was 59-year-old Rita Crundwell . She pilfered from public coffers for decades to pay for a lavish lifestyle. As reported in www.nytimes.com.

Hundreds of horses, multiple houses, and a $2.1 million luxury motor home, all paid for by stolen funds by the comptroller of a small town two hours west of Chicago.

The Crime

In all, this monster bilked $53 million from her hometown, Dixon, Ill. By then, Dixon was known by outsiders not only as the proud boyhood home of President Ronald Reagan, but also as home to what one federal official called “one of most significant abuses of public trust ever seen in Illinois.”

That is quite a distinction considering the state’s reputation for corrupt officials, including governors.

It all began in 1990, seven years after she began working for Dixon, population 15,733.

She was arrested after co-workers discovered the hidden account while she was on an extended, unpaid vacation last year. They reported it to law enforcement officials, who found that she had siphoned more than $30 million from Dixon taxpayers since 2006.

Her Punishment

Crundwell faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and fines up to double the amount stolen. She also faces 60 additional state charges related to the thefts. It’s nice when we can trust our politicians, right?