The Alabama attorney general’s office on Monday filed its recommendation for Limestone County’s former sheriff to serve three years in a county jail elsewhere in the state, followed by two years of probation, records show.

After serving the better part of 10 consecutive terms as Limestone County sheriff, Mike Blakely was convicted of first-degree theft and using his official position or office for personal gain. Each is a Class B felony that could land him between two and 20 years in prison.

Assistant AG Kyle Beckman said the state agrees with a recommendation also filed Monday that called for between two years and three years, 10 months, arguing against the idea of only sentencing Blakely to probation. The state instead recommends Blakely serve two concurrent sentences of three years each.

“Blakely’s corruption harmed Limestone County, diminished confidence in government and left citizens questioning whether the laws apply equally to everyone,” Beckman wrote in a brief supporting the state’s recommendation. “… To be clear, Blakely did not make bad decisions in the heat of the moment. He calculated that he could steal and take what he wanted, and that no one would question him. Make no mistake, probation in the face of his background, his attitude and his criminality would be a grievous error.”

Blakely was convicted of stealing $4,000 in campaign funds by depositing a check from Red Brick Strategies into his personal account instead of the “Friends of Mike Blakely” campaign account. According to testimony given during the trial, the check was a partial reimbursement of a $7,500 check written to RBS from the campaign.

He was also convicted of obtaining $29,050 in interest-free loans from a fund that contained money for inmates. The funds were provided by inmates and their families for inmates to use on vending machine and commissary items, but evidence and testimony revealed Blakely regularly took from the fund for other uses.

A former Limestone County Sheriff’s Office employee testified that Blakely would write checks to replace the funds but instruct her not to cash them, sometimes for months. Prosecutors said during the trial that this was because Blakely did not have the funds in his account, and the employee testified that the arrangement of writing IOUs and holding checks is part of what led her to eventually change jobs.

In the brief filed Monday, Beckman said the loans mentioned in the trial were only a portion of the money Blakely took.

“In the year 2015 alone, Blakely wrote 72 more personal checks totaling $41,500 to repay additional inmate loans that he got because he was the Sheriff,” Beckman wrote. “… The takeaway is clear: hardly a day went by when Blakely was not in debt — to the tune of hundreds or thousands of dollars — to his own inmates.”

Blakely was convicted of the crimes Aug. 2 and has remained in the Limestone County Detention Center since the verdict was read. Beckman said once sentenced, Blakely should serve his time somewhere besides Limestone County, where he has overseen the jail for nearly 40 years.

Beckman said the state has spoken with multiple sheriffs who would be willing to house Blakely while he serves his sentence, and that this should be a chance to show that public officials will be held accountable for their actions.

“Public corruption has uniquely plagued Limestone County in recent years. But it need not be that way,” Beckman wrote. “… If Alabama is to send a message that all public officials are accountable to the law, to the oaths they swear, and to the people they serve, then Mike Blakely must serve significant jail time for his crimes.”

Blakely’s sentencing hearing is set for 9 a.m. Friday at the Limestone County Courthouse.