COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A former Pickerington Schools teacher has repaid his debt to the state after pocketing nearly $15,000 in funds meant for a student robotics club, the Ohio Auditor of State announced Tuesday.

Levon Thomas, a 40-year-old former Pickerington High School Central teacher, repaid in full the $14,822 in funds he stole from the club’s budget, Auditor Keith Faber said in a news release. Thomas previously taught in the school’s industrial technology program and advised the student robotics club.

In August last year, Thomas pleaded guilty to depositing 30 checks intended to support the robotics club into his personal bank account — a fifth-degree felony — over a five-year period from Nov. 18, 2016, to Feb. 2, 2022, according to the auditor’s office and records with the Fairfield County Common Pleas Court. Thomas resigned from the district after school officials held a disciplinary hearing about the theft allegations. A Fairfield County judge sentenced him to a 30-day suspended jail sentence, five years of community control and 10 days of community service.