After Meridium discovered last year that a trusted bookkeeper had embezzled more than half a million dollars over eight years, the reaction of company president Bonz Hart initially confused and even angered a few of his employees.

Hart talked about forgiveness.

He asked employees, many of whom felt terribly betrayed by the bookkeeper, to consider forgiving Melissa Rowe Dillon, 41, for stealing money from the company and, in essence, the employees themselves.

"When trust is broken in a selfish and painful way, the way an organization responds shows its culture and true values," he said.

"We can forgive if we realize we need to be forgiven," said Hart, whose religious faith seems to help guide Meridium's approach to business. "I think it's the world's only hope -- being forgiven and forgiving others."

Still, Hart recently acknowledged the impact of Dillon's betrayal.

"It broke our hearts," he said.

And forgiveness is not a "get out of jail free" card, he said.

"We still have to suffer the consequences of what we do," Hart said. "Our actions do have ramifications and those can be devastating."

Dillon pleaded guilty in January to the embezzlement charges. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with all but 12 months suspended, and is serving that time in the Roanoke City Jail.

Betty Jo Anthony, chief assistant commonwealth's attorney, said the punishment for white-collar crimes is often less than might be expected because the crimes are nonviolent.

Dillon might have had a role model.

This year, Lola Taylor Rowe, Dillon's 70-year-old mother, was indicted in Roanoke County on seven counts of embezzlement based on accusations that she embezzled about $50,000 from three Catawba churches where she volunteered as treasurer.

During a May 20 bench trail, Roanoke County Circuit Court Judge Robert "Pat" Doherty found Rowe guilty of all seven counts. In 1992, she had pleaded guilty in Roanoke County to another embezzlement charge.

Hart said company insurance covered all but about 10 percent of what Melissa Dillon embezzled. She stole the money in small amounts over time by forging checks.

Dillon remains on the hook for more than $500,000 in restitution. If she lives long enough to pay it all back, most of that money will reimburse Meridium's insurance carriers. The court ordered her to pay at least $52,000 back within her first eight years of probation.

Anthony said the amount of Dillon's embezzlement is "unusual but not unprecedented."

In 1991, Cheryl Benson Perry, then 46, admitted in federal court that she had, as a vice president at Charter Federal Savings Bank, embezzled $2.5 million.

Former Henry County Administrator Sid Clower was convicted in 2002 of embezzling more than $818,000 from the county's public service authority.

In 2000, Patricia Ellen Cornette, then 42, was convicted of embezzling about $600,000 from Abal Material Handling in Roanoke.

Hart said he and Meridium learned hard lessons about the limits of trust and the necessity to tightly monitor internal financial procedures.

"We were a small, growing company and we were trying to keep administrative costs low so we could better serve our customers," Hart said.

The Roanoke Times attempted to contact Dillon in the city jail but was unsuccessful.