TOPEKA, KAN. (AP) — A Topeka man has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for stealing more than $47,000 in an identity theft scheme.

Joseph Adams, 42, was sentenced Monday to 46 months in federal prison after pleading guilty earlier to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud, federal prosecutors for Kansas said.

In his plea, Adams admitted that he and a woman obtained stolen mail containing checks and information on victims' identities, then used a software program to make counterfeit checks and identification cards. Th...