USA Today exec sentenced to 12 years for stealing $3.6 million

(AP) A judge sentenced a former controller in USA Today's Lombard, Ill., office to 12 years in prison for stealing $3.6 million from the newspaper.

Between 1994 and 2001, Wade Beck, 37, wrote 856 checks from Gannett -- the publisher of USA Today -- to fictional vendors and then pocketed the money through a personal account, according to prosecutors.

USA Today notified authorities after it began an internal investigation in 2001.

Beck, who pleaded guilty to felony theft in June, apologized on Tuesday before he was sentenced by DuPage County Judge Robert Anderson. 

"I sincerely regret my actions in this case. ... I know what I did was wrong,'' he said.

Beck had a $70,000 annual salary but was making $1,800 a day without paying taxes on the stolen money, according to prosecutors. Authorities say he used the extra income, in part, to subsidize a side business of refurbishing cars.

Beck, currently of Raymore, Mo., was also ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution over a 5-year period to Gannett after he is released. He had lived in St. Charles when he worked for the newspaper. 

Defense attorney Bob Kleeman sought probation, citing Beck's lack of criminal history and his remorse over the incident.