WARREN, Pa. — A longtime Warren County notary will spend years in state prison for stealing almost $1 million.

Brenda L. Gibson, 58, of Pittsfield, was sentenced Friday to a total of 53 to 159 months in state prison.

According to deputy attorney generals, Gibson stole about $920,000 over two years from numerous victims including her employers and her notary customers.

“I was always a good person,” Gibson said prior to sentencing. “I just got lost. I didn’t know how to ask for right help.”

“I’ve done a lot of good things for the community, too,” she said. “I didn’t mean to cause harm to nobody.”

Gibson apologized “to everybody who I have caused any harm to.”

Her attorney, Stephen Sebald, said Gibson began self-medicating with methamphetamine after the death of her mother. “She lost her mother,” he said. “She got depressed.”

“I can tell you that she’s very remorseful,” Sebald said.

He said she “very much wants to make those victims whole.”

Gibson said she “will figure out a way to get a job… do whatever I need to do…” to pay off her restitution.

Two victims spoke prior to sentencing.

Deerfield Township Supervisor Chairman Jim Stec said Gibson was one of the people who encouraged him to run for the position. As it was his first time in such an office he “relied heavily on the incumbent supervisors and the secretary/treasurer” – Gibson.

When he heard that Gibson’s notary office had been raided, he requested and reviewed the township’s records with the help of his wife, who spent her career with Northwest Bank and was certified in detecting money laundering.

They found $325,000 that was missing from township accounts.

“Her actions have been disruptive to the entire township,” Stec said. “I would like to see incarceration of at least six to 10 years.”

Gibson’s claims of a drug dependency didn’t fly with the prosecution.

“It’s clear to the commonwealth that the defendant is not a meth addict,” Deputy Attorney General Evan Lowry said. “She has an addiction to stealing money from the residents of Warren County, the businesses of Warren County, and Deerfield Township.”

Lowry said another employer asked Gibson what was going on after a longtime supplier told them they were behind on payments. “She looked at James Dyke and said, ‘Work harder.'”

Judge Gregory Hammond said Gibson’s tale has changed since she entered a plea weeks ago. “You were reluctant to admit your responsibility,” he said. “Your demeanor today is different, but your focus seems to be more about yourself than the victims.”

He said Gibson had been repeatedly asked if she used illegal drugs and if they had played a role in her criminal behavior, and that she had repeatedly denied any drug use.

He said she first admitted to methamphetamine use “two days before sentencing.”

A skeptical person might think she was “fabricating the addition in the hopes of getting a short-term treatment sentence,” he said.

Hammond also said Gibson claimed she sent “every penny you stole” to someone who was defrauding her in the United Kingdom.

“I don’t believe that,” he said. “I don’t believe your addiction. I don’t believe your remorse.”

“The greed represented by your conduct is appalling,” Hammond said. “It take a special type of greed to look your customer in the eye… when you know damn well you’re going to take their money and use it for whatever you want.”

“Time after time you betrayed them — stole their money,” he said of the notary victims.

With over 700 victims in 18 months, those thefts were daily occurrences, he said.

Many of those ended up without vehicle titles because of her actions.

“Some people actually follow the law,” Hammond said. He said victims had reported that they had lost business because they couldn’t drive to job sites because their vehicles weren’t legally titled. One veteran said he had to ask for rides to medical appointments because he couldn’t legally drive himself.

“Some did drive their vehicles, they had to get their kids to school,” he said. “They talked about the stress of knowing they could be pulled over.”

He said there were many differences in the stories. “Most of them had one thing in common — they want to see you incarcerated,” Hammond said.

With respect to Deefield Township, “you fleeced that entire community,” he said. “You should have just taken it from their wallets. You deprived the entire township through your conduct.”

With respect to Supervisor Stec, “he didn’t become a supervisor for the money,” Hammond said. “He portrayed the feeling in somebody’s gut when they’ve been betrayed for years.”

Sebald said the prosecution had received approval for a three-year minimum on Gibson’s sentence and Lowry agreed.

“I respectfully disagree that a three-year minimum sentence is sufficient,” Hammond said. “Not with a 1,000 victims. Not with the amount of money you stole.”

In addition to the prison term, which includes credit for 306 days already served, Hammond ordered Gibson to pay $325,000 in restitution to Deerfield Township, $134,231.47 to Dyke’s Garage, $420,736.23 to PennDOT, $17,865.50 to another victim, and smaller amounts to numerous others. Hammond also sentenced Gibson to 12 months of re-entry supervision after her release.