A West Virginia man pleaded guilty to theft Thursday after using claims of a dead wife and 3-year-old daughter to fleece $619 from area residents and churches.

The Opp Police Department arrested Michael McIntire, 35, in April and charged him with theft by deception after it was discovered his tale of the death of his family at the hands of a drunk driver in November was false.

McIntire pled to theft of property I and was sentenced to 46 months in jail. He was ordered to pay all court fees and restitution to everyone who gave him money while in Covington County.

McIntire, who has been in jail since his arrest, will receive credit for time served.

In April, McIntire gave The Star-News the story that he was walking across the country from West Virginia to Oklahoma and back after selling all their possessions to bury his wife, a member of the Cherokee Nation, and daughter on reservation land. He went so far as to describe being at his dying daughter’s bedside as she passed.

Turns out, it wasn’t true, according to Opp Police Department officials, who found out that McIntire’s wife and child were alive and well, living in a Little Rock, Ark., subdivision called “Landmark,” the supposed name of McIntire’s hometown. The pictures he’d shown to locals were taken from his wife’s Facebook page.