PARIS — A Norway man has been ordered to repay the state more than $21,000 in unemployment benefits received while he was employed. 

Michael Walker, 31, was sentenced to three years in prison, all suspended, and three years of probation after pleading guilty to a felony count of theft by deception in Oxford County Superior Court on Tuesday morning.

The Class B crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. 

According to Assistant District Attorney Richard Beauchesne, Walker collected more than $14,000 in unemployment benefits from the Department of Labor between Jan. 9, 2012, and Feb. 23, 2013, while he worked at Bancroft Contracting Corp. in Paris.

Walker has been making repayments for the past year and half since the grand jury indicted him on the charge, Beauchesne said Tuesday.

In addition to the restitution owed to the Department of Labor, Walker has been fined $7,000 by the state. 

ccrosby@sunjournal.com