VIRGINIA BEACH — The question before the court Wednesday was not whether the 55-year-old woman

stole more than $300,000 from Grand Furniture Discount Stores, but at what cost was the breach of trust for someone who had been considered part of the family.

After pleading guilty to embezzlement, money laundering and forgery in August, Helen Rae Kiley was sentenced to 12 months in jail and ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution.

“I love the Stein family, I would never hurt them,” Kiley said during the hearing.

Kiley faced up to 550 years in prison for the lucrative scheme that ended with her arrest in November 2012. The woman worked as comptroller for the company from June 1998 to June 2012 and was so invested in its inner workings she was thought of as one of the family, according to her attorney Robert Morecock.

Morecock tried to persuade Circuit Judge Frederick Lowe that his client did not deserve jail time because her life crumbled apart, and she had taken responsibility for the crime.

Prosecutor Andre Rosenberg called Kiley a “thief” who was only remorseful because the fraud had been uncovered. Incarceration would send a message to residents of the consequences of stealing from a company while in a position of trust, he said.

A civil trial is set for July 10.