Stephen Holt was the controller for Sara Campbell Ltd.

BOSTON (AP) – A Belmont man has been sentenced to three to five years in prison for stealing more than $2.3 million from a Boston dress company and using the money for day trading stocks and personal expenses.

Stephen C. Holt, 52, was also sentenced on Friday to 10 years of probation, ordered to pay restitution, prohibited from having contact with the victim, or profiting from his crime.

He pleaded guilty last month to 21 counts of larceny over $250 and one count each of making a false entry in a corporate book and omitting to make a true entry in a corporate book.

Holt was the controller for Sara Campbell Ltd., a dress design and manufacturing company owned by his former sister-in-law.

The thefts started in 1995 when he wrote checks for relatively small amounts out of a company account to pay bills and to deposit in his personal account.

The amount he stole grew over the years – $860,000 in 1997 and $1.4 million in 1998.

He also falsified corporate records to avoid detection.

Holt was fired in early 1999 after the thefts were discovered.