Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Troy McCullough, Tim Davis, Jennifer Holland, Kathleen Carlson and Jenny Hykes.

A total of $81,000 was stolen, the thief was caught, found guilty and sentenced by an Iowa judge in a court of law.

The process seems fair, but was justice served?

Former Lieu. Rhonda Goosic from the Story County Sheriff’s Office was a 22-year-long employee until she was caught having ruthlessly stolen money from Story County.

She received a 10 year suspended sentence, five years of probation and 2,500 hours of community service last week.

Iowa law says, she will not have to pay back the money she took, unfortunately, because it was covered by insurance. We can expect to see the cost of insurance payments trickle down to the residence of Story County.

Goosic will never see the inside of a jail cell, but she will see the look of disgust on the faces of those who know her crime and deal with her own guilty conscience.

This is not enough.

So, maybe we’ll see Goosic planting marigolds in front of City Hall or cleaning the cages at the animal shelter, but no matter what she does during her hours of community service, she will never be able to repay the trust she lost to society.

We should be able to observe officers demonstrating the laws they enforce, but Goosic has betrayed society and the respect for law enforcement officials.

The community may have found some satisfaction if Goosic served time or paid back the money she stole.

But instead the community is left with only doubt and mistrust.