MADISON, Wis. --

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Seiler Pleads Guilty Blanchard: Expunging Record Not Appropriate Audrey Seiler Statement: I Was Lost Audrey Sieler: Did Boyfriend Trouble Spark Hoax Plan? Seiler Update: DA Reviews Case MPD: We Want To Wrap This Up Oh, What A Tangled Web ... Watch Report: Overview Frustrating Lack Of Answers Watch: She's Alive Watch: Many Questions Remain SLIDESHOW: Search Scene Sentence: Too Lenient? Should Seiler's Record Be Expunged? TALKBACK: What Do You Think?

The University of Wisconsin student who faked her abduction and disappearance was sentenced Thursday to three years probation and restitution to the Madison Police Department. She must also continue to seek mental health help.

Seiler pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing an officer, both misdemeanors. Each charge carried a jail sentence of up to nine months and a maximum fine of $10,000.

Dane County Judge James Martin is allowing her record to be expunged if she doesn't commit any more crimes during her probation. Terms of the plea agreement include:

3-years probation

Restitution to MPD: $250 a month during probation. If she gets a job earning more than $20,000 a year, she must pay $400 a month through her probation period.

She must not commit any more crimes during probation.

She must continue to seek mental health help.

Her defense attorney, Randy Hopper (pictured right, with Seiler), asked for probation and that her record be expunged as part of Seiler's plea agreement.

District Attorney Brian Blanchard argued that clearing her record of the charges is not a fair option.

"Miss Seiler has never to this day explained what happened," Blanchard said. "She could have provided some account through her family or friends to the Madison Police Department what happened. She thought of herself and not others every step of the way. She should face the consequences."

Hopper said that Seiler lost an aunt to whom she was very close, which caused a depression for the 20-year-old.

"(The depression) didn't stop when she was found," Hopper said. "Miss Seiler has told her therapist that she didn't even know fully what happened."

However, the criminal complaint said she was upset with a fading relationship with her boyfriend. ( Watch Video: Audrey Sieler: Did Boyfriend Trouble Spark Hoax Plan?
)

Seiler made a statement in court, saying she has always helped other people solve their problems and was not able to help herself. That is why she went to the Madison marsh to be alone to think, she said.

"I have always loved helping those close to me with things that upset them, but never wanted to burden others with my problems -- because I could always figure things out. This time, however, I wasn't able to quite figure out what was bothering me or why I couldn't make myself feel better," she said. "I had always trusted my thought process and the decisions I made. What I wanted to do was find a place to clear my head and figure out why I was feeling so down and how I could fix it. I wanted to come back with a clear head and light heart."

Seiler did not explain in her statement why she lied to police and others after she came out of the marsh, but she did thank the hundreds of people who spent days searching for her and said she was sorry.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping find me, because I was lost," she said.

Seiler's Future Plans

Seiler will not be returning as a student at the UW, but will go to school somewhere next fall, her family told WISC-TV in Madison.

She is currently on medication for mental issues and seeing a therapist, according to court records.

She is also volunteering with a Minnesota group that deals with missing children.

AUDREY SEILER TALKBACK: What Do You Think? E-Mail Madison Police Criminal Charges For Seiler? VIDEO/ SLIDESHOW Audrey Sieler: Did Boyfriend Trouble Spark Hoax Plan? Seiler Update: DA Reviews Case MPD: We Want To Wrap This Up Oh, What A Tangled Web ... Watch Friday Report: Overview Watch First Friday Press Conference Frustrating Lack Of Answers Thursday Noon Update Police Investigation: By The Book Watch: She's Alive Watch: Many Questions Remain SLIDESHOW: Search Scene MORE Stay Safe (pdf) Find Audrey Web Site Full Story Background Story

Case Background

Hopper appeared on Seiler's behalf in April in Dane County Court and said his client would try to reach a plea and avoid trial for allegedly staging her own disappearance.

She was free on a signature bond and was reportedly at home with her parents in Rockford, Minn. while she awaited sentencing.

Seiler went missing from her campus-area apartment March 27 and was missing for four days before walking out of a marsh on the south side of Madison. She told police that an armed man had been holding her hostage. The city of Madison spent nearly $100,000 investigating her claims.

Seiler admitted to police that she had lied to them and several others several times, according to the complaint.

"I'm so stupid. I'm sorry for all this," the complaint quotes Seiler as saying. "I'm finally telling the truth. It feels so good."

Read The Full Complaint (pdf)