Woman admits to stealing from Westfield church

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A Southampton woman has been sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty to stealing $4,000 from a Westfield church, even though the church's pastor asked that she be spared time behind bars.

Debra Labombard pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing the money from the altar guild she was in charge of at St. John's Lutheran Church.

Prosecutors say the 55-year-old Labombard even used $300 of the stolen church money to pay make a restitution payment in a 2006 case in which she was convicted of stealing $200,000 from her employer.

St. John's pastor and Labombard's lawyer asked that she be spared jail. Prosecutors asked for a year.

The Republican (http://bit.ly/XYEmMM ) reports that the judge settled on a two-year sentence with all but three months suspended, to be served on weekends.