Los Angeles man gets prison for stealing $2M from App State University

BOONE, N.C. — A Los Angeles man who pleaded guilty to creating a fake company and posing as a construction company worker to steal nearly $2 million from Appalachian State University has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports Ho Shin Lee was also ordered Tuesday to pay Appalachian State University the $1.96 million he was accused of stealing from the public school. The school has already got back $1.54 million of the stolen money through civil forfeiture proceedings against the bank accounts prosecutors say Lee set up to launder money.

Lee 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 $500,000 fine on the remaining count.

Associated Press