The former chief financial officer of a Sacramento-area engineering firm has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for embezzling more than $2.5 million from his employer.

Vincent J. Doyle, 56, formerly of Elk Grove, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to 51 months in prison for mail fraud arising from his embezzlement activities, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release. Doyle, who pleaded guilty in October, was also ordered to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution.

According to court documents, Doyle was the chief financial officer for a civil engineering firm in Sacramento and El Dorado counties. From 2001 until he retired from the firm in 2009, Doyle used his position to write unauthorized checks in small varied amounts from the firm’s bank accounts that totaled more than $2.5 million.

To conceal his fraud, Doyle often entered false payee information into the firm’s checkbook register and opened a post office box to receive mail associated with his fraud, authorities said. According to court documents, he used a great deal of the expenses for an exotic dancer/prostitute, including plastic surgery.

The case resulted from an investigation by the FBI.