A Birmingham woman was sentenced Wednesday to serve five years on probation and ordered to pay $70,000 restitution to an elderly Virginia resident with dementia who had been the victim of a Jamaican lottery scam.

Rosamund Latham, 50, also was ordered to serve eight months on home detention by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre.

Besides the restitution, Bowdre also ordered Latham to forfeit another $70,000. She asked that if the government collects any of that money, that they give it to the victim for the restitution owed.

Latham pleaded guilty in January to one count of mail fraud.

At Wednesday's hearing Latham apologized to the family or families she hurt. "It really does bother me ... I fully intend to work at compensating those individuals," she said.

Latham also apologized to the postal inspector for not stopping her involvement in the lottery scam after a warning. "I should have taken it more serious and I did not," she said.

Latham's attorney, Brett Wadsworth, had recommended home detention, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn McHugh sought an eight-month prison sentence.

Bowdre said she considered the fact that Latham did not have a prior criminal history and a health issue in imposing the non-prison sentence. The judge also said Latham did not conceive the plan and did not mislead the victim.

But Latham did facilitate the carrying out of that scam, Bowdre said.

U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance issued a statement after the sentencing.

"This defendant chose to collaborate over the Internet with people she did not know and was persuaded to help criminals steal thousands of dollars from a dementia victim as part of an illegal lottery scheme," Vance said. "Although federal law enforcement informed her that she was involved in an illegal Jamaican lottery scam, she chose to pursue the online get-rich-quick scheme."

"Now, although she had no prior criminal record, she is a convicted felon who must pay $70,000 in restitution to the victim, forfeit $70,000 to the government as proceeds of illegal activity, and be on federal probation for the next five years," Vance stated.

According to Latham's plea agreement postal inspectors on Jan. 3, 2013 obtained a cease-and-desist order against Latham for using the mail "to aid others in running a Jamaican lottery scam." She was ordered to stop working with unidentified individuals who sent money in the mail, claiming that a person has won the lottery, but has to send money to claim their winnings, according to the plea deal.

Latham said she would stop it, but on July 7, 2013 Latham opened a new post office box and by October 2013 Latham continued the scheme by receiving two checks - one for $40,000 and the other $30,000 - from a Virginia resident, only identified by the initials D.T.

D.T was 87 years old and suffering from dementia at the time, according to the plea deal.

Latham deposited the two checks and then transferred the money into her two separate personal checking accounts, at Regions and Wells Fargo banks, keeping a portion for herself and transferring a portion to the unidentified lottery scammers, according to court records.

Latham did this before the checks were labeled counterfeit or fictitious.

The plea agreement states Latham has a bachelor's of science degree in education, a master's degree, and worked as an educator from 1988 to 2000. She also worked as a financial institution from 2001 to 2011 in various capacities, including customer service and documentation specialist. "Latham is familiar with bank practices as a result of her previous employment," the plea deal noted.