A Strafford, N.H., man avoided a year in state prison after staging a fake burglary at his home, but must still pay a $4,000 fine and write apology letters to his insurance company and others affected by the crime.

Bradford Sargent, 28, pleaded guilty to one felony count of insurance fraud and received a suspended sentence of 12 months in prison from a Merrimack County Superior Court judge, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.

Sargent was charged after reporting a theft at his home to Strafford Police and making an insurance claim to Amica Mutual Insurance Co. for the items he alleged had been stolen. To support his claim, authorities said Sargent mailed Amica an itemized list of items he claimed were stolen.

He later confessed to an official with the New Hampshire Insurance Department Fraud Investigation Unit that he staged the burglary and the items were never stolen.

New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny said that insurance fraud “is not a victimless crime.”

“Every law abiding New Hampshire resident and business pays for this criminal activity,” Sevigny, also the president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, said in a statement. “Insurance costs go up when criminals commit insurance fraud.”