A former employee of the Fort Dodge Sears Hometown Store has been sentenced to two years probation after stealing more than $20,000 from the store.

Jason Curtis Vote, 41, was arrested last year and charged with first-degree theft, a Class C felony, and ongoing criminal conduct, a Class B felony. In February, Vote pleaded guilty to the first-degree theft charge.

On Monday, Vote was given a 10-year suspended prison sentence and two years supervised probation from Webster County District Court Judge Angela Doyle. The ongoing criminal conduct charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement with the state.

Vote will also be required to pay $21,670.94 in restitution to Sears Hometown Stores.

According to charging documents, on more than a dozen occasions between May 1, 2021, and Nov. 22, 2021, Vote created receipts or sales transactions on the store’s registers and then processed a return on the fraudulent receipts, pocketing the money. Vote was an employee of the store at the time.

In all, Vote collected $20,770.95 from the fraudulent returns.