A former parks and recreation director for a Mississippi city has pleaded guilty for his part in a fraud case that saw multiple former parks employees and contractors arrested.

The Commercial Dispatch reports 53-year-old Herman Peters pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to defraud the state

Oktibbeha County Circuit Judge Lee Howard gave Peters a five-year suspended sentence, five years of probation and a $750 fine.

Starkville aldermen put Peters on unpaid leave in December 2017 and fired him Jan. 2, 2018.

Peters was accused of embezzling $21,703 between January 2015 and November 2017. City court documents say he conspired to pay some employees for more hours than they worked.

Starkville police arrested Peters and three former parks employees in January 2018. Another former parks employee had been arrested weeks earlier.