Five men who pled guilty to stealing $1.2 million in Bossier Parish School Board funds over a four-year period were sentenced in federal court Wednesday.

Former Bossier Parish School Board Maintenance Department Supervisor Randy Johnston and Maintenance Department Employees William Rodes and Mark Rowe, along with Ark-La-Tex Air Repair Owners Garrett Gene Wilson and Allen Victor Lee, plead guilty earlier this year to fraud after a federal investigation showed the men conspired to defraud the school board.

U.S. District Judge Maurice Hicks sentenced Lee to 10 years in federal prison. Johnston, Rodes and Wilson to seven years and three months in prison, the minimum federal sentence allowed. Rowe received probation.

Prosecutors say Johnston's cooperation with the investigation played a part in the sentencing. Rowe was cited as the least involved in the scam.

The employees will lose retirement savings and benefits to pay restitution in the case.

The investigation showed that from 2004 to 2008, the five charged the school district for more expensive air-conditioning equipment than was installed, for equipment and installation in nonexistent rooms, for amounts in excess of the contract price and for replacing units that were functioning properly.

Prosecutors say Air Repair received around $8.6 million in air-conditioning contracts from the School Board and the district was fleeced over $1 million.

The school employees informed Wilson and Lee of the lowest bids on air-conditioning installation or repair contracts so they could submit lower bids and Air Repair would get the contracts, authorities said.

Furthermore, Johnston, Rodes and Rowe are accused of falsely certifying the right equipment was in place. They also are accused of approving invoices for payment that included false information.

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