BURLINGTON, Vt. - The former treasurer of a Dartmouth College fraternity was sentenced to 18 months in prison for wire fraud in connection with the embezzlement of $800,000 from that group and another nonprofit organization.

Bruce McAllister, 79, of Post Mills, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court and was ordered to pay a little more than $800,000 in restitution.

He is to begin his sentence Jan 8.

McAllister was the treasurer for Alpha Theta House and The Meccawe Club, a hunting and fishing club in Bridgewater.

He stole at least $800,000 over a 25-year period by transferring funds from the groups' bank accounts into accounts he controlled, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

McAllister's embezzlement came to the attention of federal authorities after the fraternity and the hunting club filed civil lawsuits against him, according to a report in The Dartmouth. When he was dismissed from his job overseeing the fraternity's accounts, officials discovered that Alpha Delta had only $98.92 in its bank account, the college newspaper reported.

McAllister received a lighter sentence than the 31- to 41-month range under non-binding sentencing guidelines. Authorities said that was because he has significant medical problems including dementia, bladder cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney blockage.

Judge William K. Sessions III recommended McAllister be confined at the Bureau of Prison's medical facility in Massachusetts.