Former City Manager Jim Norman deserves a break.

His use of the city-issued credit card for personal purposes was stupid. There is no doubt about that.

But was his intent to defraud the new city government he just started working for?

No way.

The argument he has made over and over in court and in public is that it was just a mistake. He knew the credit-card statements get reviewed, and he simply thought the things he purchased were relocation expenses. The questionable items were found on his very first credit card statement, and he repaid the $2,300 in a timely manner.

Norman deserved a warning, not a conviction for six felonies and a misdemeanor. A mere warning would have saved taxpayers the money spent to prosecute and convict.

Plus, the arguments Norman’s lawyer made about how the city government handled other credit-card abuses were not allowed during Norman’s trial. It seems odd that employer precedence would not count for anything.

It sure seems heavy-handed to ruin this guy’s life over a $2,300 error. Readers of the Tribune have compared his case to other high-profile cases. The one they most often wonder is this: Why does Norman get six felonies on the state level while Linda Tuttle — convicted of gambling away $1 million in other people’s money — gets one felony at the federal level?

This newspaper sides with law and order time and again, yet on this one, the scales of justice are off-balance. We urge Mower County Judge Fred Wellman on Thursday at Norman’s sentencing to go light on his punishment. And we wish Norman well in the appeal of his conviction.