A Howard County circuit judge yesterday sentenced a former office manager for a Columbia law firm to 18 years in prison for stealing more than $700,000 from the company - the biggest embezzlement case in the county's history.

Christine McClain-Sloane, 41, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of felony theft scheme for using company money to pay for personal expenses, including a horse farm and new four-bedroom home, during 6 1/2 of the 11 years she worked at Nagle and Zaller PC.

McClain-Sloane, who cried during much of yesterday's hearing in Ellicott City, wrote nearly 250 fraudulent checks and made almost 1,400 unauthorized personal charges to her company credit card from 1998 to 2005, according to the Howard County state's attorney's office. The firm's partners discovered the missing money after she resigned in 2005 and moved to Kentucky.

Senior Assistant State's Attorney Lynn M. Marshall said it is estimated that McClain-Sloane stole an additional $75,000, but those records were destroyed.

Before Judge Diane O. Leasure announced the sentence, P. Michael Nagle, founding partner of the firm, told the judge that the situation has been "very embarrassing." Craig B. Zaller, a principal with the firm, called McClain-Sloane a "lying, conniving, devious, simply horrible person at the core."

"A crime like this - it's not about the money," Nagle said. "It's about the violation of trust."

Leasure called the case one of "sheer, unadulterated greed."

Although McClain-Sloane did not address the judge, her husband, Mike Sloane, said that his wife "needs help."

Nagle said he thought the sentence was fair, but the firm has filed a civil suit against its former employee for more than $850,000.