A Buddhist monk who admitted embezzling more than $263,000 from a Lafayette temple to feed his gambling habit was sentenced Monday to 30 months in federal prison.

Khang Nguyen Le, 36, was also ordered to pay $263,463 in restitution and faces possible deportation to his native Vietnam after his release from prison.

Le, who pleaded guilty in March to a federal wire fraud charge, was the presiding monk at the Vietnamese Buddhist Association of Southwest Louisiana's small temple on Bourque Road off Johnston Street.

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Prosecutors said he had access to the temple’s bank accounts and routinely withdrew money to fund his trips to L’Auberge Casino in Lake Charles, all the while misrepresenting account balances at temple meetings to conceal the scheme.

Le may have returned some of the money he took while serving as monk from 2010 to 2014, prosecutors said, but there are no records to verify how much.

Le admitted his gambling problem to federal agents and said he traveled to the casino every two or three days, sometimes losing up to $10,000, according to the affidavit filed to support his arrest last year.

He told agents he went alone and gambled in isolated spots in the casino, so as not to be seen by members of the close-knit Buddhist community.