McALLEN, Texas (AP) - A former city official in South Texas has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for his role in a fraudulent $1.7 million health care scheme.

Forty-eight-year-old Oscar Elizondo was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty last year to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Elizondo is a former city commissioner in Pharr, east of McAllen, who conspired with the owner of a pharmacy to submit more than $1.7 million in fraudulent claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield for expensive pain patches and scar creams.

He was ordered to pay about $1.4 million in restitution to Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Elizondo resigned as a city commissioner in 2016 following an unrelated arrest on charges of drunken driving and illegal possession of a firearm.

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