Washington (CNN) Education Secretary Betsy DeVos violated a court order to stop collecting on the debts of some former Corinthian College students and now a judge is weighing sanctions or finding her in contempt of court.

"I feel like there have to be some consequences for the violation of my order 16,000 times," said US Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim at a hearing held Monday in San Francisco, according to an audio recording released by the court.

The Department of Education has said that more than 16,000 borrowers were incorrectly informed that they owed a payment on their debt, according to a September court filing. About 1,800 had their wages garnished and more than 800 were mistakenly subject to adverse credit reporting.

"Whether it's contempt or whether it's sanctions, I'm going to entertain them," Kim said.

"I'm not sending anyone to jail yet, but it's good to know I have that ability."

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