Topeka ? A northeast Kansas man has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for stealing more than $500,000 from his mother’s trust fund.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Monday in a news release that 52-year-old Kent Joseph Gockel of St. Marys also has been ordered to pay restitution.

Gockel pleaded guilty in May to 11 counts of bank fraud.

Gockel’s father had established two living trusts for his wife and children before his death in 2002.

Prosecutors say that Gockel nearly emptied the accounts without his mother’s knowledge by writing checks to himself or wiring money to other accounts. Gockel stole a total of $584,688.

He will begin serving the bank fraud sentence after he finishes another 2 1/2-year sentence for a federal firearms violation.