CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WATE) — A Tennessee man has been sentenced to 54 months in prison and ordered to pay over $1 million after he pled guilty to defrauding a church where he worked for several years.

David Michael Apps, 50 of Chattanooga, was sentenced on August 24. In addition to the time in prison, he was sentenced to three years on supervised release, ordered to pay $1.08 million in restitution, and forfeited $4,200 in cash seized by the United States. Apps to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in February 2023.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice release, Apps embezzled over $1.3 million while serving as business manager of Broad Street United Methodist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee from 2014 to 2021. The release goes on to say that he used the church’s credit card to pay for personal expenses like travel and medical bills for family members.

Apps also wrote checks to himself under the guise of church member donations to support his false claim of having brain cancer, according to the DOJ.

The investigation into Apps was conducted by the FBI as part of the Smoky Mountains Financial Crimes Task Force.