A former Maine corrections official was sentenced on Tuesday to five years in prison and ordered to pay over $500,000 in restitution for money he stole from the state.

Gerald Merrill, 64, of Abbot, stole about $502,000 from the Maine Department of Corrections while serving as business manager and deputy superintendent for the agency, according to court documents.

He was arrested and charged in July 2023 and pleaded guilty to theft and bribery charges in March. He was sentenced in Penobscot County Superior Court on Tuesday to serve 10 years in prison with all but five years suspended and three years of probation, terms agreed to in a plea deal. He was also ordered to pay about $500,000 in restitution for the money he stole.

His attorney, Walter McKee, confirmed details of the sentencing but declined to comment further Tuesday afternoon.

Merrill had worked at the Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston and the Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport.

He was accused of using state-issued credit cards between March 2014 and his arrest to pay multiple vendors for maintenance supplies. Prosecutors said more than $2 million in payments were made, but few products arrived at the Maine facilities.

Following Merrill’s arrest in 2023, Maine State Auditor Matthew Dunlap said the criminal investigation by the Office of the Maine Attorney General stemmed from a broader examination of how state employees used procurement cards and Merrill’s spending pattern caught the auditors’ attention. They work like credit cards and allow employees to quickly and easily make small purchases with state dollars without needing to go through an invoice or bidding process.