A former nurse who admitted siphoning painkilling medications out of patients' IV bags to feed her own addiction was sentenced Wednesday to three years' probation.

Maria A. Mihalik, 31, of Superior, Wis., pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis in March to entering Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on May 5, 2010, and stealing the morphine derivative hydromorphone hydrochloride.

Mihalik, who was still a licensed nurse and was posing as an employee, faced a maximum sentence of four years in prison. The U.S. Attorney's Office had asked for a sentence of six months behind bars.

U.S. District Judge David Doty sentenced her to probation instead.

Mihalik's attorney, Robert Lengeling, said his client is grateful for a sentence that does not put her behind bars "but Ms. Mihalik is mindful of the fact that probation is not a walk in the park. It's going to be tough. She is committed to doing the right thing."

Soon after the allegations against Mihalik came to light, the Minnesota Board of Nursing pulled her nursing privileges. Wisconsin revoked her license in October 2010.

The Anoka County Sheriff's Office said at the time of her arrest that Mihalik impersonated a nursing student and stole the painkiller from at least three patients at Mercy. She was arrested at the hospital, wearing nurse's scrubs, while trying to flee, the sheriff's office said.

Hospital officials found three IV bags had been punctured or tampered with, and Mihalik had syringes in her possession with a clear fluid in them, according to the sheriff's office.

The hospital said no patients were harmed.

Mihalik had been working at St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth until March 26, 2010, and that hospital investigated her for allegedly tampering with patient medication in early April, Duluth police said. She ended up being ticketed for trespassing and resigned from St. Mary's, her attorney said.

Mihalik graduated with honors from Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in 2004, receiving an associate degree in nursing, a school official said. She was first licensed in Wisconsin as a registered nurse in June 2004 and was cleared to start work in Minnesota later that year.

Following Wednesday's sentencing, Dan Henson, special agent in charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Chicago Office of Criminal Investigations, said: "The defendant in this case exhibited a blatant and heartless disregard for the patients she victimized. We commend the U.S. Attorney's Office for its prosecution of this matter."

James Walsh • 612-673-7428