WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman was spared from going to prison after admitting she helped her husband steal more than $1.2 million from a company which owns assisted living centers in Kansas and Missouri.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten sentenced 51-year-old Lori A. Shryock of Augusta to five years on probation. Her husband was sentenced in October to three years in prison. Both pleaded guilty to mail fraud.

Her attorney told the court the wife was motivated less by greed than by fear and love for her husband, but knowingly enjoyed the financial benefits.

The indictment alleges the thefts occurred while Brent Shryock was employed as information systems director for Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, where he was in charge of purchasing equipment.

The couple created fictitious companies to submit fraudulent invoices.