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A former Collier County tax worker who embezzled $212,000, partly to pay for plastic surgery, was sentenced Friday to 2 1/2 years in state prison followed by 15 years of probation — a term that will enable her to pay off what she stole.

Collier Circuit Judge Elizabeth Krier imposed the sentence on Kimberly Dunsmore, 38, of 2681 Sixth Ave. S.E., Golden Gate Estates, after rejecting arguments by defense attorney Robert Harris.

Harris urged house arrest or probation, saying Dunsmore still needed further breast surgery due to complications from childbirth, was needed at home to care for her three children, ages 11 months, 3, and 11, and must work to pay restitution.

But Krier agreed with Assistant State Attorney Jerry Brock that Dunsmore had shown no remorse and called her actions — changing computer entries and forging documents — highly sophisticated.

“I did not see any evidence of (remorse),” Krier said after Harris, Dunsmore’s husband, David, and her sister, Annette, testified she was remorseful and had changed.

“I understand she is afraid, she is in fear, she is depressed,” Krier said, agreeing with Brock, adding that unless she admits wrongdoing and remorse, that hadn’t been proven. “Everybody is sorry they commit a crime when they face the possibility of punishment.”

Dunsmore, who fanned herself during the hearing, was too emotional to testify and had planned to read a letter at sentencing. But once Krier warned her she’d be subjected to cross-examination by Brock, she opted not to read her letter.

On Friday, Harris urged a downward departure from the recommended 26 months in state prison that took into account Dunsmore’s prior clean record, but Krier said he hadn’t proven a downward departure was needed and she saw a need to go upward — to 30 months.

She also said Dunsmore had violated the trust employers place in employees.

The judge meted out 2 1/2 years in prison for scheming to defraud of $50,000 or more, 2 1/2 years in prison for official misconduct, to be served concurrently, and 15 years of probation for the remaining 33 charges, communication fraud of $300 or more.

Dunsmore had pleaded no contest on June 4 and Krier adjudicated her guilty Friday.

She’d faced up to 30 years in prison on the top charge, a first-degree felony, and five years each on the other charges, third-degree felonies.

There was no plea bargain and sentencing was in the discretion of Krier, who pointed out that the defendant could have faced up to 170 years.

“But there’s no chance of that,” she said, referring to a plea agreement that capped sentencing at five years in state prison and requires restitution.

On Friday, Brock argued for five years on each charge, to be served concurrently, noting, “She has forged public records, she has altered other records, and she has diminished the public’s confidence in government in general.”

Brock pointed out she’d shown no remorse: “... She was caught red-handed and is now terrified about the consequences of what may happen.”

Harris told the judge Dunsmore didn’t know why she’d committed the crime, but suggested it was easy and she got into a habit. He said it was doubtful the money would be paid if she went to prison because the clearing and grading business she operates with her husband, who has a second night job, likely would shut down.

Krier ordered that $35,000 Dunsmore had placed in an escrow account be paid by Wednesday, and that once she’s released from prison, she must pay at least $750 monthly for restitution. In addition, she must pay $1,628 in court and investigative costs; prosecution costs will be determined later.

Dunsmore’s embezzlement, which occurred from July 2002 to July 2005 as she worked alone in a satellite office in Naples City Hall, was caught by a supervisor who spotted a discrepancy and investigated. Dunsmore was fired and the case was turned over to Detective Tom Muscato of the Collier County Economic Crimes Unit, who found she’d defrauded the state by altering sales tax forms, using a loophole in Florida motor vehicle registration laws.

In Florida, vehicle ownership can be transferred to immediate family members who live in the same household without paying the usual registration fee. Dunsmore accepted registration fees and then altered forms on a computer to falsely show transfers were made between immediate family members. The amounts customers paid were reduced in computer records and documents, allowing Dunsmore to pocket the difference.

Brock has said that Dunsmore often left the office to make deposits of $200 to $400, the money she stole, and her time card reflected she was working at the time she was at the bank.

At Friday’s sentencing hearing, Brock questioned Muscato, who testified Dunsmore did more than alter computer entries minutes, hours or days after a customer left. He said she also forged customers’ signatures, a certificate of title, a dealership vehicle invoice, destroyed title papers and submitted a request for a new title, changed another transaction into a gift rather than a sale, and made other alterations to public documents.

When he questioned the customers, Muscato said, they produced the original documents. Muscato testified there was “an extraordinarily large number of deposits” by Dunsmore into her bank account, all cash.

Harris called Dunsmore’s husband as a witness and he testified about how he met his wife several years after her fiance — Sgt. Joe Jones of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office — died in a car crash while driving home, leaving her pregnant with their first child shortly before their wedding. His wife takes care of the children and works at home as a bookkeeper, doing computer work, and billing and other duties for their business.

During cross-examination, Brock began questioning him about whether he purchased equipment while his wife was stealing, but Harris successfully blocked that line of questioning.

County property records show she purchased her home for $479,900 in June 2005, during that time. Harris said outside court that it’s mortgaged to the hilt.

After she was fingerprinted, Dunsmore hugged her husband and sister and then was led off by deputies.

Brock said he was pleased with the sentence, while Muscato said he was happy his work paid off, adding, “If she wouldn’t have been arrested, she would still be doing it.”

Dunsmore’s husband and sister declined comment, while Harris said he knew “politically” that Krier couldn’t impose house arrest and called the sentence fair.