LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A court-appointed referee says former Nebraska state Sen. Brenda Council should keep her law license even though she used campaign money to gamble at casinos.

Fremont attorney Thomas Thomsen recommends that the Nebraska Supreme Court suspend Council’s license for one year and place her on probation for another two.

Council was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $500 earlier this year after pleading guilty to a federal wire fraud charge. She also was fined $500 after pleading guilty to two state misdemeanor charges related to her use of campaign money. The former Omaha lawmaker lost her 2012 re-election bid to state Sen. Ernie Chambers.

Thomsen says Council has repaid all of the money taken from her campaign election fund and is undergoing treatment for a gambling addiction.