Palin is the half-sister of former "First Dude" Todd Palin, and lives in Wasilla with her husband, Scott McLean, and their children.

On Sept. 1, Diana Palin pleaded guilty to one felony count of burglary and a misdemeanor for reckless endangerment. She's scheduled for sentencing Jan. 22.

Palin, who originally pleaded not guilty to the charges, ran into trouble on April 2 when she drove to the Wasilla home of Theodore Turcott and parked her gray 1993 Toyota Camry in his driveway. On two occasions over the previous week, about $2,200 had been stolen from a cabinet in Turcott's bedroom. So when he saw a strange woman in his driveway this time around, he got a gun and hid in the bathroom.

When Palin walked into his bedroom and opened the cabinet, Turcott confronted her. After police arrived, Palin's 4-year-old daughter said she had been at the house a couple of days earlier, according to an affidavit from a Wasilla Police officer.

Palin's bail was set at $10,000, but she served five months in jail, the majority of the time at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River.

Josh Fannon, Palin's attorney, successfully filed multiple requests to delay her court appearances, and on May 19 wrote, "Ms. Palin has appointments with a treatment center at Hiland and if she is moved for a court hearing she will miss her appointments."

Fannon declined to talk about Palin's case except to say that, "Without commenting on her, some people stay there for longer because of classes or treatments or other objectives they might have."

The Wasilla Police Department declined to comment, as did Sarah Palin's spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton.

On Aug. 29, Palin was released into a residential program at Akeela House, an Anchorage nonprofit that provides treatment for alcohol and substance abuse. Under her terms of release, she must finish the residential program.

Contact Josh Saul at jsaul@alaskadispatch.com