MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The former principal of a Lakeville middle school has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to stalking, burglary and identity theft.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom says the crimes of 51-year-old Christopher Endicott, of Apple Valley, “terrorized neighbors, family and co-workers.” The charges Endicott pleaded guilty to stemmed from five separate cases from June 2013 to June 2018.

Dakota County Prosecutors say it started when officials at Independent School District 196 discovered someone had unauthorized access to the district’s information systems. Police determined Endicott — who was the principal of Century Middle School in a neighboring district — as a potential suspect.

Investigators seized Endicott’s computer at home and discovered a trove of data, including the personal information of school employees and their families and credit card information of several individuals. They also found out he had access to several email accounts that weren’t his. In writings police discovered at his home, Endicott admitted to using the email accounts and credit card information, saying he was in “financial ruin.”

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Endicott was first arrested for harassment and stalking in February 2018. After he was released on bail, prosecutors say he began stalking the detective who was investigating him, and was arrested and charged again. Later that month, prosecutors charged him with burglary for breaking into his Apple Valley neighbor’s home in 2015.