An 80-year-old Monmouth County, N.J., financial advisor was sentenced to three years in prison for taking money from two Lutheran churches, one of which involved money for the church’s nursery school, according to NJ.com, a New Jersey news website.

Richard Menninger, who was an independent financial advisor and worked for the Aid Association for Lutherans, pled guilty to theft of moveable property and failure to make required disposition.

He took more than $75,000 from the Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Keyport, N.J., and approximately $63,000 from the Cross of Glory Lutheran Church in Matawan, N.J., leaving it with $52 in its nursery school account, according to NJ.com.

According to Menninger’s attorney, Susan Schroeder Clark, Menninger knew what he did was wrong but he was convinced a connection in Puerto Rico was going to return the money, according to NJ.com.

The prison sentence was imposed because the thefts were over a period of time and not just a one-time event, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Ronald Reiser said.