One year sentence for Aldie, Va., volunteer fire treasurer who stole from department "It's an extraordinary case," Lee said as he delivered the sentence. It just was a dual life you were leading, and a false life. Though federal sentencing guidelines had called for a prison term of between 30 and 37 months, the one-year sentence was still somewhat stiff given Cromer's age. Prosecutors and defense attorneys had not asked that Cromer, who cares for his wife, spend any specific amount of time in prison, and they agreed whatever term he serve should be followed by home confinement. For his part, Cromer apologized and said he was ready to accept any punishment the judge deemed fit. "I broke a lot of trust, and I'm ashamed of that," he said. Cromer's crime was lucrative, though it was hardly sophisticated. Prosecutors said Cromer, who had "sole signature authority" on the department's checks, simply transferred money from department accounts to personal ones, or wrote checks from department accounts to pay his mortgage and Sears, Chase and BP credit card bills. The theft ran from 2000 through September 2012, when an examination of the department's finances for tax purposes revealed irregularities, authorities have said. Cromer was then removed as treasurer, authorities have said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark D. Lytle said in court Friday that some prison term was necessary "to warn those who might be in a similar position of trust." "It was a major amount of money to embezzle," he said. Shannon S. Quill, Cromer's defense attorney, urged Lee to be lenient, arguing that Cromer cooperated with investigators and had already begun paying back the money he stole. In court and in filings in advance of the sentencing, she asked Lee to consider Cromer's personal circumstances. She said Cromer - a father of four who served in the Army and ran a family farm in addition to his work at the fire department - was a poor money manager who, along with his wife, amassed almost $100,000 in credit card debt. "He didn't see a way out, and then it came to light," Quill said. Cromer's case is among a handful recently brought by federal prosecutors in Alexandria against volunteer fire officials accused of swiping their organizations" funds. Two others at the Remington Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department in Virginia's Fauquier County - William Joseph Stuart and Douglas G. Taylor - both pleaded guilty in similar cases in recent months.