A woman once in charge of collecting traffic fines for Hall County’s Clerk of Courts office pleaded guilty today to stealing more than $11,000 over a year and a half.

Gail Baugh will serve no jail time for the theft, but will spend the next 10 years on probation for the felony charge, according to a ruling by Judge John Girardeau.

Baugh’s sentence, recommended by District Attorney Lee Darragh, is significantly less than what the district attorney said was his original proposal.

Originally, Darragh said he wanted Baugh to serve time in jail for the crime, the maximum sentence for which is 15 years.

But because Baugh presented a check in court Tuesday for the $11,618 in stolen funds and another check for the $7,500 it reportedly cost the county to pay for an investigation into her misconduct, Darragh suggested the lesser charge.

"The primary function of the criminal justice system is to obtain restitution for the victims," Darragh said.

He said for an offender to pay restitution in full at the time of sentencing was "unusual," noting that Baugh had to borrow from friends and family to repay the county.

"There’s some punishment even related to that," Darragh said.

Baugh’s probation comes with a $1,500 fine and 120 hours of community service.

In addition to her fines and probation, Baugh will not be allowed to work in most jobs where she has access to accounts, and she is barred from working for another governmental agency in the reach of the Northeastern Judicial Circuit.

Baugh’s guilty plea came nearly a year after she was removed from the clerk’s office, based on suspicions that she had mishandled traffic fines.

Before she was fired, Baugh had worked for the county for some 23 years.

A probe by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation revealed that between December 2009 and March 2011 Baugh stole cash paid for traffic citations and shredded the case files before they could be accounted for in a county data system.

During the GBI investigation, Baugh denied taking the money.

But in court Tuesday, she told a different story as several of her former co-workers in the clerk’s office looked on.

Before Girardeau, Baugh said she initially took the money because she was facing financial distress. Her attorney, Dan Summer, said Baugh was facing a lot of debt at the time, calling her position "understandable even though indefensible."

"I was in need, and thought that I would pay it right back," Baugh said.

But before Tuesday, Baugh only paid "maybe" one of the stolen fines back, she told the judge.

Girardeau has granted Baugh first offender status.