 A Bemidji man has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for embezzling more than $200,000 from a local business. 61-year-old Thomas Kaplan was sentenced yesterday by Judge John Melby. He was convicted of embezzling $208,000 from American garage door. Assistant County Attorney Dave Frank had asked the court for the 42-month sentence, which is double the amount of time called for by the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines. Frank said Kaplan deserved the higher sentence because of three factors, abuse of his position of trust, use of a sophisticated scheme to hide the embezzlement, plus the fact that the amount of theft was nearly six times over the statutory amount of $35,000, and Kaplan's lack of remorse. Kaplan's lawyer asked for the 21-months the Sentencing Guidelines called for. Melby agreed with the prosecutor and sentenced Kaplan to 42 months. Melby determined that the prison sentence would be stayed for a period of 20 years, conditioned on Kaplan serving one year in the Beltrami County Jail, and that he comply with the standard probationary conditions and begin making restitution payments upon his release. After the court announced the sentence, Kaplan informed the court that he would rather serve the 42-month sentence in prison. The court granted his request to serve the prison sentence. The $208,000 restitution obligation was reduced to a civil judgment. Kaplan was then remanded to the custody of the commissioner of corrections. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.