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UW Professor sentenced to 4 years in prison

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A former UW-Madison soybean expert was sentenced to four years in prison and 12 years probation Wednesday for embezzling $450,000 from UW and failing to pay taxes.

In April, agronomy professor Edward Oplinger plead no contest for felony theft and felony tax evasion after he directed research money into a private account between 1992 and 1999, and failed to pay taxes on the money in 1995 and 1996.

“I wish I was standing up here and saying it was all a mistake, that I didn’t do it or that someone else did it,” Oplinger, 58, was quoted as saying in the Wisconsin State Journal. “But I can’t. I can’t blame anyone else but myself for these actions.”

The professor retired in July 2000 after a university investigation revealed the scandal.

Oplinger will be eligible for parole in one year, and will continue to receive a $110,000 a year pension from UW, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.