ALTOONA — A central Pennsylvania man has been convicted of theft for not returning more than $280,000 mistakenly deposited into his bank account.

First Commonwealth Bank also has sued 58-year-old Herbert Starbird of Altoona, a retired physicist with the National Institutes of Health.

Starbird spent much of the $280,276 he found in his account — but only, his attorney says, after the bank initially told him the deposit in October 2007 was not a mistake.

Starbird has since paid the bank $5,500 but still owes more than $157,000.

A Blair County jury convicted Starbird on Tuesday.

Defense attorney Tom Dickey says Starbird "just doesn't believe he is guilty of anything."

He faces 9 to 16 months in prison when he's sentenced May 13, though prosecutors say they don't oppose probation.