Man Gets Prison For Stealing $2M From App State

A California man is heading to prison for stealing nearly $2 million from Appalachian State University.

Ho Shin Lee pleaded guilty to creating a fake company and posing as a construction worker in order to steal the money from App State.

A U.S. District court in Charlotte sentenced Lee to three years in prison.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports Lee was also ordered to pay the $1.96 million he was accused of stealing. The school has already recovered much of the stolen money through civil forfeiture proceedings against the bank accounts prosecutors say were set up to launder money.

The Los Angeles man was indicted in March on 14 counts of money laundering. Federal prosecutors dismissed 13 counts as part of a plea agreement. Lee had faced up to a 20-year sentence and a $500,000 fine on the remaining count.