Leading independent Christian retailer Chuck Wallington's landmark store may never fully recover from years of theft by a former staff member just jailed for the long-term fraud.

The president of family-run Christian Supply in Spartanburg, S.C., said that he was "satisfied" with the 30-month prison term given last week to Cheri Abraham, the former director of administration at the business.

She was also given five years of probation on release and ordered to pay $500,000 restitution, The Spartanburg Herald reported. Abraham said she had repaid the money she took, though prosecutors believed that up to $1 million was missing, the newspaper added.

In a message to suppliers who have worked with the store as it has sought to pay off debts, Wallington said that he was pleased that the judge had affirmed the store's position in his sentencing remarks, saying that Abraham was "obviously in denial" about the missing money.

"As you can understand, our 'word' means an awful lot to us in this community, not to mention the testimony of our store to the community as well," Wallington wrote. With the support of vendor partners and backing of a loyal staff, the business was digging out of the "very deep hole" discovered in August 2008.

While he was encouraged that God "is not through with our company's ministry," Wallington said, the losses had been crippling, forcing the store to cut staff by a fifth and to freeze salaries. "Indeed, with today's economy and retail climate, there even still remains the possibility that recovery might never be attained," he said.

Founded by Wallington's father in 1953, the almost-35,000-square-foot store won a CBA Store of the Year Impact Award in 2007 for effective marketing, staff training and merchandising.

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