LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Lawrence man was sentenced to two years in federal prison for embezzling more than a half-million dollars from his company and business partners.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says 55-year-old Mark Elzea was sentenced Monday and ordered to pay $619,000 for embezzling from Pur-O-Zone.

He pleaded guilty in September to one count of interstate transportation of stolen funds.

Elzea was controller and part owner of Pur-O-Zone, a Lawrence janitorial and cleaning equipment business.

Prosecutors say he began embezzling in 2004. The scheme was discovered in May 2014 after a vendor complained about not receiving a check. The partners discovered that Elzea had signed several unauthorized checks made payable to Cardmember Service Chase Bank in Illinois.