Los Angeles (CNN) -- A southern California woman convicted of cutting off the penis of her then-husband and throwing it into a garbage disposal was given a life sentence Friday with the possibility of parole after seven years, authorities said.

Catherine Kieu, 50, of Garden Grove, California, and her husband were going through a divorce at the time of the July 2011 incident. The couple married in December 2009, but in May 2011 the husband filed for divorce, which was granted in August 2011, according to Orange County court records.