Topeka ? A retired Internal Revenue Service employee has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for his role in a discredited, Topeka-based tax services company.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the sentence Thursday for 68-year-old Jesse Ayala Cota. He pleaded guilty in 2007 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS.

Cota admitted advising taxpayers how to defraud the federal government by using methods devised by Renaissance, the Tax People Inc. Prosecutors say he defrauded the government of more than $1.3 million and was paid more than $300,000 for his work.

Several co-defendants, including former top executives of Renaissance, have also been convicted in the case.

Cota went to work for Renaissance in 1999 after 33 years with the IRS.