A Jewish woman accused of conspiring with an alleged Hamas sympathizer to vandalize two Jewish organizations in Pittsburgh last summer was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to five years probation.

Talya A. Lubit, 25, pleaded guilty in May to misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit a crime against the United States and damaging or defacing religious property.

According to federal prosecutors, Lubit and Mohamad Hamad of Moon conspired to scrawl anti-Zionist messages and an image associated with the terrorist group Hamas on the side of a Squirrel Hill synagogue and a Jewish nonprofit group’s building in July 2024.

While prosecutors said those crimes could lead to a maximum of one year in prison, guidelines for Lubit called for up to six months incarceration because she has no criminal history.

U.S. District Judge Christy Criswell Weigand said she did not sentence Lubit to incarceration or home detention due to Lubit’s mental health conditions and progress she has made since her arrest.

“Ms. Lubit, I certainly could have sentenced you to jail,” Weigand told the defendant after reading the sentence in the federal courthouse in Downtown Pittsburgh. Handing down a sentence of probation “does not mean your crimes were anything other than very serious.”

Few details of Lubit’s mental health were shared in open court. Weigand referenced “multiple mental health conditions,” said Lubit had been treated since age 5, and added that the conditions “maybe warranted” a decrease in the severity of her sentence.

One of the 17 conditions Weigand imposed as part of the sentence require Lubit to undergo a mental health evaluation and take any psychiatric prescriptions mandated by doctors.

As part of the plea agreement, Lubit must pay restitution totaling $10,534 to Chabad of Squirrel Hill, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh.

A weeping Lubit read an apology to the Jewish community before sentencing, at one point pausing to turn and look directly at Jewish Federation employees in the courtroom.

“I do regret it, I’m so sorry,” Lubit said. “I hurt people and I did so pointlessly … I damaged the dialogue I wanted to help.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, whose signage near their Oakland building was defaced last year, is “pleased with the outcome,” said Shawn Brokos, a retired FBI agent and the group’s community security director.

“It was very clear in court today … that the severity of this case was understood,” Brokos told reporters outside the courthouse.

Brokos said she hopes Lubit’s apology “is sincere,” and added that the probation length — five years’ versus a more typical two-year sentence — “is a deterrent” to others considering hateful acts against the Jewish community.

“And it hints at what’s to come for the other suspects in this case,” Brokos said. “The severity of this case cannot be understated.”

Weigand will preside over a hearing in Hamad’s case Oct. 27, court records show. Hamad in April pleaded not guilty on criminal charges in connection with the vandalism.

Officials at Chabad, a synagogue on Beechwood Boulevard, discovered graffiti on the outside of their building the morning of July 29, 2024.

“Jews 4 Palestine” was written in red spray paint on the exterior stone, along with an inverted triangle, which is used as a pro-Hamas symbol.

That same day, the sign on the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh building was also defaced.

A red arrow was painted that pointed from the words “Jewish Federation” on the entrance sign to graffiti that read: “Funds Genocide.” That was followed by a red heart and the words “Jews, Hate Zionists.”

In a May email to TribLive, Lubit’s mother wrote that she believes the heart symbol in her daughter’s graffito on the Jewish Federation sign should be read as, “‘Love Jews, Hate Zionists.’

“The first part — ‘Love Jews’ — has been widely overlooked, but it is essential to the message,” Elana Lubit wrote.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch Wednesday stressed to the judge that Lubit’s actions were premeditated — and the planning she said Lubit and Hamad did over a period of weeks was “extremely relevant” to sentencing.

Bloch also read comments Lubit had shared with Hamad about the inverted triangle, which some say Hamas uses to announce targets of violence.

“I’ll find out later if I went too far,” Lubit said in one message, according to Bloch.

“By focusing on (mental health) issues, we are not at all trying to excuse Ms. Lubit’s conduct,” responded attorney Jennifer H. Bouriat, who represents Lubit.

Lubit, who was raised in an observant Jewish household, attended Jewish day school and speaks Hebrew, Bouriat said. Lubit’s grandmother is Israeli.

“No matter what (Lubit’s) beliefs are, she should not have done what she did,” Bouriat said.

Bouriat added that Lubit’s friends and family “know she did not intend ill will to the community.”

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