The president of Tipp City-based Repacorp said Monday, April 18, he was glad to see prison time ordered for two former employees who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the business.

Prison terms and restitution were ordered April 15 in federal court in Dayton for Michael Wion, 44, formerly of Piqua and more recently of Florida, and Tess Cremeens, 47, of Troy.

An investigation was initiated in May 2012 when company officials called Tipp City police reporting suspicions of theft.

Company officials said Wion said he feared an account had been hacked. He then left the company abruptly for a new job in Florida

Wion was company controller and Cremeens was his assistant.

The investigation later was turned over the federal authorities.

Rick Heinl, Repacorp’s president, said Monday he was glad the judge ordered prison terms. “I am glad it’s over,” he said.

Although restitution was ordered, Heinl said he didn’t know how much would be repaid over time. “It’s not about money anymore,” he said.

Wion pleaded guilty in December to one count each of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion in U.S. District Court. Judge Thomas M. Rose sentenced him to 48 months in prison, restitution to Repacorp of $733,640 and payments to the IRS of $140,794.

Cremeens pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion. She was sentenced by Rose to 18 months in prison, $250,000 restitution and $70,000 in payments to the IRS.

According to Tipp City police reports in the investigation, Cremeens told investigators the thefts started in late 2009 and that she and Wion spent months figuring out how transactions could be deleted from year-end reports and from tax records.

Wion and Cremeens had been with the company since 2006.

Heinl said the company received an insurance payment of $275,000 as it worked to deal with the theft and rumors the company wouldn’t make it after the embezzlement came to light. That money, he said, was distributed to employees as a bonus in hopes of “settling people down,” he said.

Repacorp, manufactures stock, custom, RFID and digital labels. It has manufacturing facilities in Tipp City, Wisconsin and Arizona.

Heinl said the business is doing well, and expanding this year. “We had our best year ever last year, and will have a better year this year,” he said.