(FORT WAYNE) - Two Southwest Michigan men have been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Fort Wayne.

Court officials say 44 year old Brian Nordan and 43 year old Dustin Coleman, both of Cassopolis, both plead guilty to wire fraud. Nordan was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay just over $2.9 million in restitution. Coleman was given a sentence of six months in prison, one year of supervised release, and must pay $149,756 in restitution.

Court officials say in 2006 a dentist and owner of a dental practice hired Nordan to work as the chief marketing officer and general manager of the practice. Eventually, Nordan was trusted to take on more responsibility for the day to day management of the business, and was soon being paid an annual salary of $250,000. He was also trusted to make decisions in the best interest of the practice and its over 100 employees.

In the spring of 2018, the owner became aware the Nordan had been fraudulently misappropriating funds from the dental practice through several schemes. Forensic accountants discovered that Nordan had made use of company funds to pay for unauthorized personal expenses, and to pay for his personal credit cards. Nordan also made unauthorized investments with his employer's money into a toothpaste company of which he was one of the owners, which sold toothpaste back to the dental practice at greatly marked up prices.

It was determined through the frauds, Nordan had cost the business just over $3 million.

The investigation also determined that Coleman was Nordan's domestic partner and eventually became his husband. Coleman was hired by Nordan in 2012 to work on marketing for the business. While it was found he did some work for the dental practice, the owner did not approve Coleman's hiring, and Coleman received over $149,000 in wages and benefits to which he was not entitled. It was also discovered that Nordan paid money to his sister.