A woman who stole more than $500,000 from health care accounts that she was hired to administer was sentenced to five years of probation Monday after a judge found she was "ill prepared'' to do her job because of physical and neurological deficits.

Lisa Hand of Wilsonville must pay back the $543,693.28 she diverted from the trust accounts of clients and complete 500 hours of community service, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ordered.

Hand pleaded guilty in April to theft in connection with health care, a federal felony. She was diagnosed with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia after she was charged in March.

Hand, now 55, was the sole shareholder and officer of Administrators Northwest Inc. and Administrators Nationwide LLC, which oversee employee benefit plans, for health reimbursement accounts including flexible spending accounts.

"Hand's personal and unauthorized use of client trust money was possible because, unbeknownst to the victims, only the fox was watching the henhouse,'' wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Maddux in a sentencing memo.

Maddux estimated close to 400 people fell victim to Hand's theft between 2014 and 2015. Among the companies that hired Hand to manage their workers' accounts was the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, and the residential and commercial flooring company Advanced M & D Sales Inc., according to court records.

Nearly a dozen people lost the money in their accounts and had to search for other sources to cover medical and dependent care costs, reaching into their savings and sometimes borrowing money from others, Maddux said.

"I have felt a great deal of anger, frustration and stress caused by the actions of Ms. Hand and her company,'' one victim identified only as "C.J.S." wrote to the court.

C.J.S. had money taken from her paycheck and set aside for her family's benefit in a flexible spending account, but her claim for a $766 reimbursement was never issued, she said. "It sickens me that some would steal that which was hard earned by others,'' she wrote to the judge.

In 2015, Hand's clients alerted the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration that Hand's businesses had failed to process and pay claims, respond to inquiries and failed to reconcile accounts.

Hand called her learning disabilities "not an excuse but certainly an explanation'' for what occurred.

As the sole operator of the companies, she told the judge she became overwhelmed and diverted clients' money to pay business expenses, including rent.

Her defense lawyer Fidel Cassino-DuCloux argued that the case before Aiken stood apart from many other federal financial crimes because Hand didn't use the money she took for her personal use. "All the money went back into the business," he said, noting that Hand lives in an apartment and drives an old car.

The prosecutor argued that Hand should face some prison time but left it to the judge to determine.

"When white-collar defendants systematically steal from their clients on a vast scale, the consequences can and should include a term of imprisonment,'' Maddox wrote to the court.

Hand and her lawyer sought probation.

"I am truly remorseful," Hand said. "I apologize to each and every one of my clients and to their employees for the betrayal of their trust."

Aiken described the offense as "an extraordinary destructive crime'' because of the number of victims affected, but she said it's no surprise it occurred because of Hand's inadequacies, lack of training and support.

"You were ill-equipped to have that position, period," Aiken said. The judge took into account that Hand has no prior criminal record and had successfully served in the military in the past.

The judge urged Hand to take an education evaluation test and find a developmental optometrist.

She also ordered Hand to watch the testimony of former Oregon state Rep. Val Hoyle in support of a 2015 bill that became law, which required the state Department of Education to hire a state dyslexia specialist and screen students by first grade of risk factors for dyslexia. In her address on the House floor, Hoyle said she didn't recognize she had a learning disability until she was 46 and considered herself an advocate "for people who learn differently."

The judge also directed Hand to watch a TED talk on YouTube by Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, who speaks on the "Power of Vulnerability" and "Gifts of Imperfection."

Aiken urged Hand to understand the lesson of the day: "People have to ask for help when they get overwhelmed."

Hand's main priority now is to pay restitution, the judge said. Hand was ordered to pay at least $100 a month.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian