A former North Carolina insurance agent will spend up to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to 25 counts of embezzlement involving his customers.

Michael A. Howell, 41, of Indian Trail, N.C., made the plea in a state court May 21, following a nine-month investigation by the North Carolina Department of Insurance into Howell’s Dilworth Insurance Agency in Charlotte, N.C.

Howell is also expected to plead guilty to the murder of a state insurance department examiner through a plea deal at a later date, according to published reports. Howell received a minimum of 12 ½ years in prison for the embezzlement charges and is expected to get at least 15 years in additional time for the murder plea. The maximum he would serve is 35 years, reports said.

Between March 2004 and May 2008, Howell embezzled more than $150,000 in documented and undocumented premiums rather than forwarding them to GMAC Insurance and Discovery Insurance, according to the department. Many of Dilworth’s Insurance Agency’s customers, many of whom were senior citizens, were affected by Howell’s actions, but the two insurance companies made good on each affected policy, so no customers lost money or coverage.

As part of the state’s investigation, insurance investigator Sallie Rohrbach, 44, was looking into Dilworth’s records. According to published reports, Rohrbach disappeared in May 2008 after visiting Howell’s agency for the investigation. Her body was found a few days later 25 miles away from the agency’s location.