A suburban Indianapolis man who authorities say embezzled more than $580,000 from a utility where he was chief executive officer has been sentenced to prison.
Prosecutors say Donnis Mizelle of Avon defrauded Hendricks Power Cooperative by siphoning funds from the utility's expense account. The U.S. attorney's office says he was sentenced this week to 33 months in prison after earlier pleading guilty in the case.
They say that since at least 2009, Mizelle submitted dozens of fraudulent expense reports that disguised personal expenses as business expenses. They paid for items including personal vacations, jewelry, electronics, tickets to sporting events and meals.
Mizelle had been the cooperative's CEO since 2003. Prosecutors say he agreed to repay the money and has already paid $300,000 toward the total.