UPDATE: Judge increases sentence to 15 years on Thursday, Oct. 27.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - An Albion woman was sentenced Tuesday, Oct. 25, to prison for producing child pornography for sale on the Internet.

Nicole Renee Jacob convinced the three sisters - ages 13, 14, and 16 - to pose in lingerie and naked while she held a price sheet for photos.

Jacob, 36, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Her boyfriend, Normann Pittelkow, 43, who took the photos and tried to sell them, awaits sentencing in November.

Jacob faced a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor but U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell granted a defense request for a variance based, in part, on Jacob's "low-level cognitive ability."

"The court believes this is really reprehensible, obviously," the judge said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Hessmiller objected to the sentence, which is below the statutory minimum. She could appeal.

Jacob, whose verbal cognitive functioning is that of an early elementary-school child, was also a "victim of Mr. Pittelkow's scheme," her attorney, Charles "Chip" Chamberlain Jr., said

"In a very real sense, she was just one more of the 'kids' abused by Mr. Pittelkow. Second, because of her history of having been an abuse victim and compounded by her cognitive limitations, she was easily controlled and re-victimized by Mr. Pittelkow."

He said that Jacob had deleted photos from her cell phone before they could be distributed. The photos, however, had been sent to Pittelkow's KIK messenger account, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said the only reason the photos were not sold is because Pittelkow did not receive an upfront payment from the expected recipient.

Jacob went along with the plan because they needed money to keep their house.

"Jacob posed in the photographs ... personally held the price sheet, and exposed herself alongside the children posing in the photographs," Hessmiller wrote in court documents.

The judge said it was a difficult case. The crime is despicable. Jacob "desperately" needs mental-health help.

"This is bizarre behavior," Bell told her. "It's out of the ordinary, and it's reprehensible social conduct. ... There is no rational defense ... ."

The judge said Jacob will spend five years on supervised release after her prison term expires.

She will be under intense supervision for the first year and have to report daily activity and have contact only with those approved by a probation officer.