A former call girl who duped an Ottawa man out of $850, 000 before faking her own death was sentenced to four years in jail Friday.

Doug Macklem hired Darquise Johnson, 32, as an escort several years ago. Johnson quickly began to convince her new client, bound to a wheelchair from cerebral palsy, to invest in false real estate in the Dominican Republic.

Johnson's lawyer argued that her ex-husband forced her to steal the money.

In a tearful statement to the court, Johnson apologized to Macklem.

"You are a very nice person and you have a kind heart," she said. "I am truly, truly sorry, Doug, for the mess that came into your life."

Besides sentencing Johnson to four years in jail, the judge also ordered restitution for Macklem but experts say it will be difficult for him to get any of his money back.

In addition to money, Macklem said he has also lost his ability to trust people.

"Your trust in other people is completely destroyed," he said. "My case is to alert anybody out there who is seeing their emotions played with for financial gain."

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Karen Soloman