LOS ANGELES -- A former college student whose newborn baby was found dead in a trash bin was sentenced Friday to the 30 days she already spent in jail and was ordered to take monthly pregnancy tests for five years.

Holly Ashcraft, 23, of Billings, pleaded no contest in May to child endangerment with an allegation that it resulted in death.

Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy told Ashcraft that her behavior was "absolutely unforgivable" and she did not want a "similar situation" to occur.

"I cannot order you not to get pregnant," Kennedy told her. "I don't think you should get pregnant at this time until you work out whatever psychological problems that exist, and I have to believe there are psychological problems."

Ashcraft was a third-year architecture student on scholarship at the University of Southern California at the time of her arrest. She was suspended by the university pending the case's outcome.

A homeless man found the dead baby in a trash bin behind a restaurant near USC on Oct. 10, 2005.

DNA testing showed the child was Ashcraft's and a coroner's investigation concluded the infant was born alive. However, she told authorities that the child was stillborn.

Prosecutors tried twice to charge Ashcraft with murder. The first charge was reduced and then dismissed. Prosecutors refiled and then last December a judge reduced that charge, said Jane Robison of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

In April 2004, Ashcraft went to a Los Angeles hospital because she was bleeding. She claimed to have given birth to a stillborn child but the baby never was found and she was not arrested.

Outside court, Ashcraft's attorney insisted that the 2005 baby was stillborn.

"I know that people want to demonize her. There's always this idea that somehow gets reported that she's throwing live babies into a trash can. That's never been the case," Mark Geragos said.

"Clearly the choices of disposal are why we're here," he said.

Under a plea agreement, Ashcraft was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 730 days of electronic monitoring that she already served. The judge also gave her five years of probation and ordered Ashcraft to undergo counseling.

That was a good idea, her attorney said.

"Anybody in this situation would need to talk to somebody," Geragos said.

In addition, the judge ordered that every month during her probation, Ashcraft must bring "an unopened, unused pregnancy test" to the probation department for testing and if she becomes

pregnant she must seek prenatal care.

If Ashcraft has an abortion, it must be done in a "medically approved manner," the judge said.

Ashcraft was warned that she could face up to 10 years in prison if she violates her probation.

The judge also ordered a Nov. 14 hearing for a progress report.

Geragos said Ashcraft wants to get a job and to resume her studies, either at USC or another college.