Tami Barineau of Bainbridge plead guilty in Superior Court Wednesday for the theft of more than $40,000 in property tax dollars from the Decatur County Tax Commissioner’s Office last November.

Her total sentence is 20 years, with 12 months to be served in the Decatur County jail. The rest is to be served on probation.

“We really needed to get jail time in this case because of the fiduciary nature of the crime,” District Attorney Joe Mulholland said.

Barineau pled guilty on three counts: theft by taking, with a total sentence of 10 years, and two counts of the use of false documents, each totaling a sentence of 5 years. She is also being charged $3332.98 in restitution fees.

Last November, Barineau, a tax office employee, was arrested for stealing a moneybag from the tax vaults containing $2,478.38 in cash and $37,168.98 in checks.