Before sentencing Andrew "Drew" Schroller to 13 years and eight months for embezzlement, a judge said con artists like him are charming people leading double lives, including being kind to children and animals.

"But behind closed doors, he pulls the wings off a fly," Ventura County Superior Court Judge Rebecca Riley said.

Judge Riley also ordered he pay more than $2.2 million in restitution, fines and fees along with interest on the money Schroller, 48, stole from Secorp Industries of Ventura. Schroller was convicted of stealing $1.1 million from the company.

"These cases are very sad," Judge Riley said.

Schroller's lawyer Tim Quinn had asked the court to sentence his client to 10 years in prison. Prosecutor Howard Wise wanted the maximum sentence of 19 years.

"The message is don't steal," Wise said in an interview. "If you steal, you get caught, the court will punish you, and there is nothing that anybody can do for you at that point."

A group of Schroller's friends and family sat on one side of the courtroom; on the other side sat his former co-workers and Bob Mailly, president of Secorp Industries, a company that sells and rents safety equipment and other services to offshore oil-drilling businesses.

"I feel very sorry for him but he is just getting what he deserves," said Mailley after the sentencing.

In February, a jury found Schroller guilty of embezzlement, grand theft, eight counts of forgery, six counts of tax evasion and one count of failing to file state taxes.

The jury came back with the verdicts in an hour and 45 minutes.

After the sentencing, a bailiff led Schroller away in handcuffs but not before he was allowed to hug and kiss his wife.

Quinn declined to comment as he was leaving the courtroom.

Quinn had told the judge that his client was a member of the Rotary Club, a church member and involved in the community for many years. Schroller is a "very good person" who was an asset to the community, said Quinn.

He noted that Schroller doesn't have a criminal record and has done volunteer work in the community. Quinn said this wasn't a violent crime.

Quinn said people in the community aren't going to say, "'Gosh, I feel so much safer that Mr. Schroller is in custody now."

Schroller has "no skills" to survive in prison where people live like animals and are "torture chambers" for people who have committed crimes, Quinn told the judge.

Wise said in an interview that this was an egregious case.

"The company was greatly affected. But it was the human beings of the company that were affected," said Wise. "It was their trust that was destroyed. It was the jobs of everybody that worked in the company that were put in the balance..."