A longtime Northeast Georgia district attorney was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison for his role in a payroll theft scheme.

Tim Madison, who oversaw prosecutions in the Piedmont Judicial Circuit about 50 miles from Atlanta, resigned last July at the height of a GBI and State Attorney General's Office investigation. Madison also was sentenced to six years of probation and ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution.

Madison pleaded guilty to two felony theft counts, one count of violation of oath of office, four felony counts of making false statements and writings and one conspiracy count.

For 24 years, Madison headed the DA's office, which had jurisdiction over Barrow, Banks and Jackson counties. He entered his plea before Senior Superior Court Judge Robert Mallis at the Banks County courthouse in Homer.

"Today's sentencing will go a long way towards removing the tarnish from the judicial circuit in the Piedmont Circuit," Attorney General Thurbert Baker said in a statement. "The criminal actions of a few have cast a pall over many, but the prison sentence given to Madison today reflects that the corruption was attributable to individuals, not the entire system."

Madison, former assistant district attorney Brett Williams, and Madison's wife, former victim-witness coordinator Linn Madison, were indicted last August. Charges remain outstanding against Williams and Linn Madison.

According to state prosecutors, Tim Madison and Williams were allegedly engaged in a scheme to bill Banks County more than $50,000 for a full-time salary for Williams, with Williams and Madison splitting the funds. At the time, however, Williams was already getting his full state-paid salary as an assistant DA. The criminal charges against Madison and his wife involve the time sheets that Linn Madison submitted to Banks County, even though she allegedly was out of town at the time, according to the state attorney general's office.