A retired Pennsylvania Superior Court judge was sentenced to 3 years and 10 months in prison for collecting $440,000 in fraudulent insurance claims.

Michael T. Joyce, 60, was sentenced Tuesday (March 10) in U.S. District Court after his November conviction on two counts of mail fraud and six counts of money laundering after collecting the money from two insurance companies following an August 2001 car accident.

Joyce alleged the accident left him in constant pain, yet federal prosecutors said he was regularly golfing and piloting a plane at least 50 times since the accident, according to reports.

The former judge will be allowed to self-report to prison, but his attorney plans to ask that his client remain free on bond pending appeal, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“The defendant was well on his way to becoming an American success story,” Senior U.S. District Court Judge Maurice B. Cohill said, according to the report. “But instead, he chose to commit this fraud.”

In addition to his 46-month prison term, Joyce must pay $440,000 in restitution and may also have to forfeit his home and cash. Upon release, he will be subject to three years of probation.

Joyce retired from Superior Court in 2007, after a decade on the bench, following a grand jury indictment.