SANTA ANA (AP) — A former worker for California’s employment agency has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for accepting more than $40,000 in bribes in return for wrongly issuing more than $500,000 in unemployment checks.

Federal prosecutors said 31-year-old David Paul Holden was sentenced Tuesday in Orange County to 76 months in prison. Holden also was ordered to pay $510,454 in restitution to the Employment Development Department.

Holden pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy and bribery in May.

Prosecutors said Holden orchestrated a kickback scheme that involved more than 50 people who provided their Social Security numbers in exchange for unemployment checks.

Holden received the illegal payments from ineligible workers others recruited for him.

Six of the recruiters also have pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme.

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