A Monroeville man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $150,000 in restitution yesterday in federal court for running an illegal check-cashing business.

Eyad Shuman 44, pleaded guilty in February to wire fraud and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business out of his Turtle Creek store, Cheap Tobacco Outlet, at 705 Penn Ave.

According to federal prosecutors, Mr. Shuman ran the illegal business from 2004 until March 2007.

In addition, he pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud between June 9, 2005, and Jan. 22, 2007.

Prosecutors said that Mr. Shuman directed his accountant to submit false Pennsylvania sales tax returns. He under-reported the gross sales of his business by $2.3 million, resulting in sales tax losses of $139,260 to Pennsylvania and $23,210 to Allegheny County.