ST. LOUIS (AP) - Two people have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay back more than $220,000 for stealing from parking meter operations in St. Louis.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel on Thursday sentenced Dannielle Welch-Benson to more than two years in prison and Frank Habeebullah to six months. Both also face three years of probation after they are released from prison.

St. Louis in 2009 began outsourcing work in the parking meter division, contracting with Milwaukee-based Duncan Solutions, a major supplier of parking meters. Duncan then subcontracted Dankar Enterprise Inc. to handle the St. Louis operation.

Authorities say Welch-Benson was owner of Dankar and inflated the company’s monthly bills by $5,000 or more from June 2009 through December 2001. Habeebullah was Duncan’s St. Louis representative who received $59,000 through the scheme.

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