A woman who admitted stealing $174,291 from the Arizona Memorial Museum received a lighter-than-normal prison sentence today after the prosecutor, defense attorney and judge noted the defendant's long history of serious mental and physical illnesses.

Fe Nakahara, 44, began hearing voices when she was nine years old and now has been diagnosed with "schizo-affective depressive disorder," a mental illness with symptoms including both auditory and visual hallucinations, according to court records.

U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor sentenced Nakahara to 18 months in prison, some 15 months short of the maximum punishment available. Nakahara was also ordered to repay all the money she stole, as well as another $76,820 in back taxes.

Gillmor noted that Nakahara has no previous criminal history and, in addition to her mental illness, suffers from severe physical problems including borderline diabetes, kidney stones and hyperthyroidism.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Connors said the government "does not dispute at all that this defendant has had a mental disorder since the age of 9."

But Connors also noted that Nakahara is "a smart woman, an educated woman" who stole large sums of money from a charity.

The theft, which occurred from May to October 2005, "had a significant impact on the Arizona Memorial Museum," Connors said.

She asked the judge to sentence Nakahara to a prison term of 27 to 33 months.