PITTSBURGH — A woman who drowned her two youngest sons in their bathtub because she felt that would enable her to be a better mother to their older brother was sentenced to 30 to 80 years in prison.

Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning called the sentence imposed Wednesday on 44-year-old Laurel Schlemmer a de-facto life term given her age.

The judge found Schlemmer guilty but mentally ill of two counts of third-degree murder in March, so she’ll begin her sentence in a state mental hospital and be moved to prison if doctors ever deem her cured.

Schlemmer’s husband, parents and surviving son, who was 7 years old at the time of the incident, weren’t in court.