Horse-loving bookkeeper gets almost 20 years for stealing $53 million from Illinois town Robert Ray / AP file Rita Crundwell, former comptroller for Dixon, Ill., leaving federal court in May 2013. Crundwell was sentenced Thursday to nearly 20 years in prison. A former bookkeeper for a cash-strapped Illinois town, who admitted embezzling $53 million to finance a lavish lifestyle centered on prize-winning horses, was sentenced Thursday to almost 20 years in prison. Rita Crundwell, 60, wept as she apologized to the city of Dixon, which couldn't even get its rusted dump trucks replaced while its funds were being diverted to a secret account she controlled for two decades, NBCChicago.com reported. Crundwell pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud in connection with the scheme. Her lawyer asked for a more lenient sentence of 13 to 16 years, but the judge wasn't in a forgiving mood. "You have much better passion for your horses than the people of Dixon who you were supposed to represent," U.S. District Judge Philip Reinhard said, according to Forbes.com., as he shaved just five months off the maximum sentence. The breath-taking theft underwrote Crundwell's extravagances: two horse farms that produced 52 world champions, a $2 million motor home, a Ford Thunderbird convertible and $340,000 worth of jewelry. Meanwhile, city officials testified at the sentencing hearing, the small city of Dixon -- where Ronald Reagan grew up, in farm country about two hours from Chicago --was struggling with budget cuts. Agency head Michael Stichter recounted how Crundwell rejected his requests for equipment and told him, "If you knew where a money tree was, I'd be willing to get you a dump truck." Prosecutors say Crundwell raided Dixon's coffers by creating phony invoices for bogus supplies and services. She used city funds to pay the "bills," and the money went into an account that she had set up under an official-sounding name. When she took a long vacation in 2011, her replacement uncovered the irregularities and the FBI was brought in. In recent months, the feds have been auctioning off her assets to reimburse Dixon. Crundwell also faces state charges. Rita Crundwell was indicted on 60 felony theft counts for allegedly funneling tens of millions of dollars from the town of Dixon, Ill., a town where she served as the treasurer comptroller for decades. Prosecutors allege that for years Crundwell, a champion quarter horse breeder, kept a $53 million secret. Rock Center correspondent Harry Smith reports. This story was originally published on Thu Feb 14, 2013 1:46 PM EST