JOHNSTOWN — An appeals court has rejected a former school superintendent’s bid to withdraw a guilty plea to misuse of funds intended to expand high-speed Internet access.

Dennis Bruno, 64, former superintendent of the Glendale School District in Cambria County, entered the plea in 2011 to misappropriation of $49,600.

Bruno argued he hadn’t “intentionally” misapplied funds but relied on others who told him the project had been completed. He said he didn’t know the plea would leave him without his $80,000-plus pension.

A federal judge last year refused to let him withdraw the plea. A three-judge 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel last week upheld that decision.