A once well-respected Hilo woman who served as bank officer and officer for four nonprofit groups was sentenced Friday to just over 1 1⁄2 years in prison for embezzling roughly $70,000 from the bank accounts of those nonprofits and a mom-and-pop business.

Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway sentenced Cheryl Octavio to 19 months’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release, and ordered her to pay restitution to Bank of Hawaii, which repaid the victims. The total of $70,561.63 includes bank costs. Mollway did not impose a fine.

The 43-year-old wife and mother of three was ordered to turn herself in Aug. 22, likely at the Federal Detention Center near Honolulu Airport.

In sentencing her, Mollway said the former Bank of Hawaii business banking officer’s scheme of taking other people’s money "was not a one-time mistake," but spanned years.

Mollway said it seemed ironic that Octavio worked at a bank, and could have sought a bank loan rather than take the money from youth organizations.

"These were not strangers," she said.

Octavio was elected to positions of trust to valuable community organizations, in which she served as treasurer, and "to abuse that trust is unthinkable," Mollway said. She "used customers’ accounts’ money to pay for her father’s medical bills before she took money from her family’s accounts."

Octavio, indicted Aug. 7, pleaded guilty Nov. 21, accepting a federal plea agreement to theft, embezzlement and misapplication of funds by a bank officer.

From 2009 to 2012, federal prosecutors said, Octavio stole at least $22,627 from Hilo Little League accounts; at least $13,969 from Big Island Futbol Club (dba Haaheo Soccer Club) accounts; at least $4,873 from Na Hoa O Puna soccer club; at least $4,491 from Lehua Hawaii Productions; and $10,000 from East Hawaii Auto Center, a family auto repair shop.

Her sister, Rochelle Agrigado, held Octavio’s hand and tearfully told the court she was disappointed in her sister’s actions, including stealing from the pageant company she and Octavio founded, Lehua Hawaii Productions, but said "she’s still a good person."

"When I found out my own sister took from our account, it was devastating," she told the court, adding, "It’s very shameful for us. So many people trusted her, and she betrayed them."

But "they still love her because she’s still done good for the community," Agrigado said.

She said her sister needs professional help, saying, "It’s like gambling."

Octavio told the judge she was a KTA cashier and attending school part-time when she landed a job at the bank, where she gained a lot of knowledge and moved up the ranks. But Octavio said she made "bad decisions in a blink of an eye."

She said she has gotten "stronger and wiser" during the months after she got caught.

"I enjoyed doing more with less" and learned to budget, she said, and plans to share strategies with other families when she is released from prison.

Octavio was facing a maximum 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and five years of supervised release.

Her attorney, Marcus Sierra, said his client intended to repay the money, but was feeling desperate and things snowballed. She plans to take money out of her 401(k) plan to pay restitution, he said.

The judge said what made the case difficult was Octavio’s failure to keep a clean ledger, which would have helped establish her intent to repay the money.

Octavio withdrew money, but also replaced money withdrawn from her own account and others.

"She robbed Paul to pay Peter," Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Hatten said.