Maureen McDonnell should go to prison.

Virginia’s former first lady has been convicted of eight counts of corruption for trading access to state officials in exchange for more than $177,000 in gifts and loans from a Virginia businessman.

Last week she was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.

She should not argue special circumstances or seek legal loopholes to appeal her conviction to avoid serving time. If she were truly remorseful for putting her family and the citizens of Virginia through the shame and disgrace her actions have wrought, she would save the taxpayers the cost of an appeal.

That also goes for her husband, former Gov. Bob Mc- Donnell, who was convicted on 11 counts of corruption and sentenced in early January to two years in federal prison, followed by two years of probation.

They both argued at separate sentencing hearings that what they have done for the commonwealth and the community should give them a “skip past jail” card or, at most, a punishment solely of community service.

The best service the McDonnells can provide now to the commonwealth is to quietly head off to prison and stoically take their punishment like thousands of others sentenced in Virginia while the former governor and first lady jetted off on lavish vacations, traipsed the interstate in a loaned Ferrari, golfed at expensive private clubs, hosted a fabulous and expensive wedding reception for their daughter in the Executive Mansion, all courtesy of the businessman whose dietary supplement they pushed among top state officials, including at a luncheon at the state’s mansion and at speaking engagements Mrs. McDonnell made across the country.

Outside the federal courthouse in Downtown last Friday, the first thing Mrs. McDonnell’s lawyer did was thank federal District Court Judge James R. Spencer for “showing great mercy” and leniency in meting out sentences for them both.

The McDonnells’ sentences were far less than what federal guidelines recommend and what prosecutors urged. Federal guidelines call for a sentence of five to six and a half years for someone convicted of Mrs. McDonnell’s charges, and 10 to 12 years for someone convicted of Mr. McDonnell’s charges.

By comparison, William J. Jefferson, the former Louisiana congressman who was found guilty of 11 federal counts of corruption, was sentenced in November 2009 to 13 years in prison. Now in a federal prison camp in Oakdale, La., Mr. Jefferson received the longest sentence ever handed down at the time to a congressman for bribery.

His conviction stemmed from taking money from a tech company in exchange for helping the business get the Army to test the company’s products and for using his influence with government officials in other countries.

The only difference between the former congressman and the McDonnells is that Mr. Jefferson wrapped $90,000 worth of his cash “gifts” in aluminum foil and stuck it in his freezer. Authorities found it during a search of his home in Northern Virginia.

The McDonnells spent their “gifts” and “loans” on shopping sprees in New York, an expensive Rolex watch, fancy trips and to pay the mortgage and credit card bills. There may not have been any money left to stick in the freezer.

If Mrs. McDonnell, a former Washington NFL team cheerleader, was so willing to sell her soul and that of her husband — along with the public trust — for an inaugural ball gown and designer wardrobe, then perhaps a year and a day spent behind bars will give her time to reflect on that fact that, for thousands, prison orange really is the new black.