A pharmacy worker who stole $700,000 worth of diabetes test strips from Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center told a state judge that she doesn’t know the person to whom she sold the test strips and that she made no money from the transactions.

Stacie-Lynn Pihana, 48, pleaded no contest in June to stealing 2,346 cases of test strips over a period of one year and three months.

Circuit Judge Faauuga Tootoo sentenced Pihana on Wednesday to the maximum 10-year prison term for first-degree theft and ordered her immediately taken into custody to begin serving her sentence. He also ordered Pihana to repay WCCHC $699,837.

The Hawaii Paroling Authority will decide how much time Pihana must spend behind bars before she is eligible for parole.

Pihana had been free on $250,000 bail. An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment against her last December. By the time authorities located her in January, Pihana had already arranged for a bail bonds company to post her bail.

WCCHC discovered the theft during a financial audit in October. The audit showed that an inventory, scheduled for June 2017, had not been done. As WCCHC’s pharmacy technician, it was Pihana’s job to do the inventory.

When Honolulu police questioned her about the theft, Pihana said she sold the test strips to a local buyer who took them to Las Vegas to sell on the black market. Pihana refused to identify the local buyer.

Police recovered WCCHC security video of Pihana hiding cases of test strips in the recycling bin, then retrieving them after the bins were taken outside. Pihana then placed the cases in her car or loaded them into another car or truck outside the facility.

The security video shows a man pulling up to the facility in a truck and retrieving some of the cases. Police do not know the identity of the man.

Pihana referred to the buyer in court Wednesday as a stranger. She also said she sold the test strips for $20 per box, but made no profit.

Most of the 2,346 cases Pihana stole are of a particular brand that contain 24 boxes of 100 test strips. Local pharmacies sell various types and brands of 100-strip boxes for between $20 and $171.

People with diabetes need to check their blood-sugar levels one to three times per day. Blood glucose meters read blood-sugar levels from a drop of blood on a test strip and tell patients whether or not they need to take insulin.