HARTFORD,Winning Exchange Mich. (AP) — A former Michigan police chief who admitted stealing drugs from her department was sentenced Monday to more than three years in prison.

Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Brickley said Tressa Beltran tarnished the image of law enforcement.

“The reverberations from what you did will carry on long after,” the judge said.

Beltran resigned as police chief in Hartford in southwestern Michigan in 2023, six months after investigators searched department offices. She admitted stealing prescription drugs, especially hydrocodone, from a disposal box.

Beltran pleaded guilty to drug possession and using a computer to commit a crime. She was accused of selling drugs and using her influence to extort others for drugs.

“I am trying to make myself better, and I do think that putting me in prison is not the answer. But I’m just sorry,” Beltran told the court.

She will be eligible for parole after roughly 3 1/2 years in prison.