A former Corvallis lawyer who stole money from her clients and used it to pay her mortgage, do landscaping projects at her home and subsidize lavish vacations and plastic surgery was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown characterized Pamela S. Hediger’s crimes as “extremely serious and troubling,’’ particularly for a former officer of the court.

She accepted the recommended sentence of three years and 10 months reached in a plea deal, citing Hediger’s "breach of trust'' and the broad scope of her offenses.

The judge also ordered Hediger to undergo a mental health evaluation when she’s released from custody and to pursue treatment or medication if deemed necessary during her three years of post-prison supervision.

Hediger, dressed in a turquoise blouse and black slacks, stood beside her defense lawyer, fiddling with a pen as the judge spoke.

Then it was her turn to address the judge.

“I am profoundly ashamed and sorry,’’ Hediger said, as 12 members from the law firm she defrauded watched from the courtroom.

Hediger said she accepted the judge’s suggestion for a mental health evaluation, “because there’s no reasonable explanation for my betrayal of trust and what I did to these fine people. And there’s nothing I can do to undo it.’’

Hediger also was ordered to pay $1.9 million in restitution, $471,399 in outstanding federal income tax and forfeit her Corvallis home.

“Defendant was motivated by greed and the desire to live a lavish lifestyle replete with luxuries such as foreign vacations, parties, automobiles, plastic surgery and a stylish home overlooking beautiful acreage,’’ Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire Fay wrote in a sentencing memo.

In November, Hediger, 55, pleaded guilty in federal court to attempting to evade or defeat taxes and engaging in monetary transactions with property derived from unlawful activity.

She’ll be sentenced Friday in Benton County Circuit Court on separate but related charges after pleading guilty there to five counts of first-degree aggravated theft, two counts of identity theft and one count of tax evasion. Hediger has previously worked as a deputy district attorney in Benton County.

The federal sentence is part of a global agreement to resolve all the state and federal allegations.

Hediger worked from 2010 to 2017 as an attorney, president and managing shareholder at Evashevski, Elliott, Cihak & Hediger law firm, focusing on personal injury cases. While at the firm, she embezzled money from the firm's client trust and business operating accounts, according to prosecutors.

She also defrauded two investors in shopping center projects in Seaside and Astoria by falsely promising high rates of return and short terms in exchange for their investments, according to the government. She converted their investment funds to her own use, according to prosecutors.

Pamela S. Hedinger, 55, said she concurred with a judge's recommendation that she receive a mental health evaluation, “because there’s no reasonable explanation for my betrayal of trust and what I did to these fine people. ''

Money she embezzled helped her pay for car expenses, a timeshare, a Hawaiian band for a party and credit card accounts that Hediger opened in the names of relatives and an associate, according to Fay.

Between 2013 and 2017, a large portion of the money that Hediger embezzled was used to make $335,000 in improvements to her Corvallis home on Northeast Hundred Oak Drive. She’s agreed to forfeit her home as part of the case.

Hediger, according to the state case, used her firm’s landscaping company to provide services at her own home but then recorded the expense as a legitimate firm service, Oregon Assistant Attorney General Colin Benson wrote in his sentencing memo.

To cover up her fraud, Hediger routinely falsified the law firm's accounting records by mischaracterizing the purpose of payments, submitted false documentation to support expenditures and lied to firm employees when questioned, prosecutors said.

Hediger, who surrendered her state bar license last year, further failed to file income tax returns on nearly $2.2 million between 2011 and 2017, evading more than $471,000 in taxes due, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

After the sentencing hearing concluded, Hediger was led away, not in handcuffs, by two deputy U.S. marshals. At the defendant’s request, the judge recommended that Hediger be placed at the SeaTac federal detention center in Seattle.

“We’re glad it’s all coming to closure,’’ said Thomas E. Elliot, a partner in the law firm Hediger stole from.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian