Swift justice it is not.
The saga that is the fraud investigation, charging, prosecution and eventual court case involving a former soccer club treasurer will make it into its ninth year before it concludes.
In 2003, the Richmond Youth Soccer Association (RYSA) discovered that its volunteer treasurer - soccer mom and well-respected community member Debbie Judd - had been embezzling from the club for five years to the tune of $204,407.
In January 2004, RYSA reported the fraud to the RCMP and the file was officially opened.
However, it took until June 2009 before charges were laid, due, in some part, to what the Richmond RCMP's ecomomic crimes unit referred to as the "complex" nature of the crime.
A further two years down the line and Judd finally appeared in court and pleaded guilty, before more delays punted the case onto this week.
After almost an entire Tuesday afternoon of mitigation and pleas at Richmond Provincial Court from Judd's lawyer, Les Mackoff, as to why Judd shouldn't be jailed for two to three years - as per the Crown's request - Judge Patrick Chen, understandably, had no option but to retire to consider the sentence.
Members of the RYSA had, once more, invested their collective days to see justice being done by attending the court case in the gallery, only for them to have to wait now until January to close the book on a sorry chapter in the club's history.
The association, like many others in the local soccer community, has wondered for years why Judd took the money in the first place.
Her lawyer told the court this week, however, that what made this fraud case unusual was that there was no mental illness or gambling, alcohol or drug addiction behind the theft.
Judd simply bought supplies with her own money on behalf of the club and then re-embursed herself without properly recording the transactions.
Over the years, Mackoff said, Judd was writing cheques to herself which far exceeded what she had spent and was able to continue the crude practice because RYSA had "no internal safeguards and no real oversight."
"She got in slowly and then it got deeper and deeper and had no idea of the extent of the fraud.
"By the time she'd reached the threshold, she was past the point of no return."
In stark contrast to how long it took the RCMP to investigate the $200,000 plus fraud, Mackoff said it was anything but sophisticated.
Mackoff asked Judge Chen on Tuesday to steer away from a prison term, instead imposing a two years less a day conditional sentence order on Judd, who has now moved to Airdrie, Alta. to distance herself from the public humiliation that ensued in the aftermath of the fraud.
This, her lawyer argued, would allow Judd to continue to work and pay back $1,000 per month to RYSA for 156 months, until her retirement - a total of $156,000.
Acknowledging the presence of the RYSA in court,
Mackoff said the embezzlement has been an ordeal for the club, but also for Judd and especially her family.
Judd's children have been the target for on- and off-the-field taunts since news of the theft spread and her husband, John, because of the case, lost his job as a coach of a women's college soccer team and was later denied the opportunity to coach professional soccer in Croatia.
Judd's husband then declared bankruptcy and moved the family to Alberta to find work.
"The effect on the Judd family has been overwhelming," Mackoff said.
Referring to the pre-sentence report that suggested Judd lacked emotion toward the soccer club, her lawyer indicated that his client only has so much "emotional reserve" and that it was mostly used up focusing on the acute effect on her family.
He told the judge that a custodial sentence would also have a profound impact on Judd's seven-year-old son.
Mackoff argued that the "net effect" of sending Judd to prison, would not only be detrimental to a family that has already suffered much, but would also negate his client's ability to work and start paying back the money to the club.
Judd, the court heard, also now suffers from chronic anemia and is prone to light-headedness "on the verge of fainting," which has worsened over the years as the sorry events unfolded. She's also now seeing a psychologist.
Reading out an apology written by Judd, Mackoff said his client offered a "heartfelt apology to the RYSA community.
"I'm heartbroken that my work in the community has been rendered meaningless and now I'll be known as a thief.
"The effect of my actions (on my family) has been extremely painful."
Standing up, Judd then told the judge that she was "really sorry and I apologize to the (RYSA) and all I can think about is my seven-year-old and what will become of him."
Before deferring sentence once more, Judge Chen told both Crown counsel and defense that he hasn't made up his mind, but added that the case involved a "significant fraud."
