RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – A California school accountant will likely spend about two and half years in prison after she stole at least $1.8 million in lunch money from the Rialto Unified School District over several years.

Judith Oakes was sentenced to five years behind bars after she was caught on video stuffing thousands of dollars in school lunch money into her bra and purse while working as the district’s food services accountant, NBC reports.

Oakes pleading guilty last month to stealing about $1.8 million over a four-year period, though school officials believe she may have actually stolen more than $3 million during her 25-year career.

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“Instead of doing her job in an ethical manner, she re-purposed those funds for her own gain,” Rialto Police Sgt. David Shephard told the news site.

“She took very expensive and lavish trips to concerts, sporting events,” Capt. Randy de Anda added.

Police said Oakes ran up $10,000 to $12,000 in monthly credit card bills on things like first-class plane tickets, and front-row seats to NCAA Final Four games, and always paid off the balances on time, in cash.

Oakes was initially arrested in August 2013 when she was caught on a school security camera stuffing lunch cash into her bra and purse on at least two occasions. She resigned from her position August 9, 2013, according to NBC.

“Her first statement to me when I interviewed her was, ‘Thank God it’s over,’” Oakes’ attorney, Patrick Milligan, told CBS.

District officials chastised Oakes for stealing students’ lunch money after her sentencing Thursday, and RUSD Associate Superintendent Thomas Haldorsen said officials are now “dealing with the more insidious lingering harm, which is the potential loss of faith in the district and public education in general,” CBS reports.

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District spokesperson Syeda Jafri told NBC “there are a lot of procedural changes that we have already implemented since this happened.”

Milligan told NBC Oakes will likely spend about two and half years behind bars with credit for time served, and that she plans on trying to pay back the money.

Prosecutor Jason Liso said he believes Oakes received a fair sentence.

“I believe that the sentence is commensurate with the proof that we had and the crime that was committed,” he told CBS. “I believe it gets justice for the victims.”

Many taxpayers, however, disagreed.

“She got off easy, due to the state’s screwed up criminal justice system it’s unlikely she will serve even half her sentence,” Scorpion_J posted to CBS. “Of course, the money is long gone.”

“She should be tarred and feathered in the town square,” Rusty Shackelford added.

Parent Nalaya IznoFool was especially offended by Oakes’ sentence.

“Five years?!?! That’s all?” she posted to Facebook. “This is the very same school district that sent me threatening letters because I owed the cafeteria $1.45!!