It was a non-violent crime. The state of CA paid over 600,000$ to punish a $146 crime or $4110 for every $1 she forged.  The California Dept. of Corrections & Rehabilitation reports 11,755 inmates convicted for non-violent crime 2nd & 3rd strike crimes. At that rate if every convict stole at  least $1  that factor out to $48,313,050! That's insane.  California spends $9.3 billion dollars on corrections and rehabilitation.