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ALEXANDRIA, Minn. — Former Alexandria Police Chief Rick Wyffels must pay restitution in the amount of $65,000, a judge ordered Tuesday morning.

Wyffels was sentenced on Tuesday, Jan. 23, in Douglas County District Court by Stearns County Judge Nathaniel Welte.

In addition, Wyffels was sentenced to serve 120 days in jail, with 116 days stayed for one year under specific conditions, including paying the restitution to the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, the nonprofit cooperative insurance organization for Alexandria, within five days of sentencing.

Wyffels was also ordered to pay a $50 fine, a $75 surcharge, and a $15 law library fee. He initially faced a felony theft by swindle charge.

Mayor Bobbie Osterberg, Alexandria Police Chief Scott Kent, City Attorney Tom Jacobson and City Administrator Marty Schultz read victim impact statements at the hearing.

Osterberg said her first reaction was "one of (a) deep, powerful, unimaginable betrayal of trust."

Wyffels was accused of purchasing $65,724 worth of items that were missing from the police department, according to the initial complaint.

"The irregularities that led to the charges were discovered within 60 days of the defendant leaving his employment," Osterberg said. "My belief is the defendant's pattern of behavior had become a habit and $65,000 is just the tip of the iceberg."

Osterberg also quoted some financial figures, stating that the per-capita income in the City of Alexandria is $35,048.

"The defendant inappropriately used funds to equal the earned income of one citizen for 22 months," Osterberg said.

Kent also spoke of the betrayal of trust between the public and law enforcement.

"The damage inflicted destroyed years of built trust between the community and those who represent the department," he said.

Kent continued: "Betraying that trust not only ruined the personal reputation of the defendant, it also casts a dark shadow on the honest men and women currently representing Alexandria Police Department, and the city as a whole. The illusion of reward was compelling enough in the defendant's mind to trade a title of honor for a criminal stamp on his legacy.

"This case will go down as a blatant abuse of power and corruption, and will serve as a cautionary tale for the foreseeable future," he said.

The effects of the case will be felt "for years to come," he said.

"I speak on behalf of the Alexandria Police Department," Kent said. "We will not tolerate this type of behavior. We are better, we are so much stronger, and we will push forward to right what has been wronged."

Jacobson discussed the scrutiny law enforcement has been under in recent years because of the actions of a few officers.

"Some people have lost trust in the entire system because of those actions," he said. "Acts such as those now admitted by the defendant freed that narrative, and the rest of us are left needing to reassure our community that the defendant's scheme was an exception and that in Alexandria we have a truly outstanding police department with officers who act with honesty and integrity and whose testimony will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

Judge Welte spoke briefly before handing down the sentence, telling Wyffels, "You have diminished the badge, sir."

Wyffels did not comment at the hearing.

He served as police chief beginning Oct. 31, 2006, and retired on Sept. 30, 2020.