A former San Antonio nurse appointed by the Veterans Affairs Department to administer the finances of veterans who were deemed incompetent or incapacitated was sentenced Thursday to 14 months in federal prison for stealing more than $140,000 of their benefits over five years.

Cornelia V. Hurling, 58, admitted she spent much of it on personal expenses, including meals, movie rentals and lawn services. The VA claims she stole $141,734 directly or by taking excessive fiduciary fees.

Hurling apologized, saying she took full responsibility and regrets her actions.

As her lawyer sought probation for her, Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra instead gave her 14 months in prison, ordered her to serve three years of federal supervision once released and to pay $141,734 in restitution.

Hurling pleaded guilty in September to one count of misappropriating or embezzling the funds she was supposed to manage as a VA fiduciary. A separate charge of embezzling from the government was dismissed as part of her plea deal.

Her lawyer, Christian F. Capitaine of Houston, argued there were mitigating factors that should affect Hurling’s sentence, including that she suffered a stroke during the period in question and her house burned down, though he said that doesn’t excuse her conduct.

“She’s certainly remorseful and is taking responsibility for what she’s done,” Capitaine said.

Hurling was previously a licensed vocational nurse but hasn’t been practicing for a number of years, Capitaine said.

Between Jan. 1, 2008, and Sept. 20, 2013, Hurling served as a fiduciary appointed by the VA to administer the financial affairs of at least 22 veterans who were deemed incompetent or who were otherwise incapable of handling their financial affairs, her plea deal said.

In July 2013, the VA’s Office of Inspector General found that Hurling had not submitted mandatory accounting statements for 12 of those veterans, including bank account statements for the previous four or five years.

She had opened bank accounts for all 22 but was also the signatory on a business bank account for Educational Health Care, or EHC — which she incorporated in Texas in July 2008, serving as its director — and an account she shared with her daughter, her plea paperwork said.

A review of her business and personal accounts showed that Hurling was the primary user and that she deposited money from veterans’ accounts into the EHC account in amounts greater than her VA-authorized fiduciary fee.

“In most of those instances, the funds were not used for any of the veterans’ benefit,” the plea paperwork said. “Rather, the debits on the account were for Hurling’s personal use. For example, Hurling spent money on meals, lawn service, handyman repairs and movie rentals.”

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