SANTA CRUZ — A woman who embezzled nearly $4 million from 24 cities including Santa Cruz and San Francisco was sentenced to more than three years in prison on Monday, a federal judge ruled in Los Angeles.

Belinda Exon of Phoenix was the president of Huntington Beach-based Rehab Financial Services. The firm kept grant money and other funds in escrow for city governments, and Exon pleaded guilty to taking more than $1 million from San Francisco and $34,000 from Santa Cruz, authorities said.

Santa Cruz City Attorney John Barisone said Exon admitted to embezzling the money from a federally funded project that was administered by the Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency. The embezzlement was years ago and predated all the agency’s current employees, Barisone said.

Prosecutors said Exon used the money to buy land in Arizona and to fund two companies that she owned. Exon’s prison term begins June 3, prosecutors said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.