WASHINGTON — A former D.C. employee is going to prison for up to four years for stealing the identities of kids he was supposed to be helping.

The identity theft scheme ran between 2005 and 2013, and involved about 130 people. One of them was 49-year-old Marc A. Bell of Bowie.

The now-former D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services worker pleaded guilty back in January of stealing nearly $4.5 million in federal income tax refunds.

Bell admitted funneling to more than 130 others involved in the scheme. They filed at least 12,000 federal tax returns, using the youths’ IDs.

Bell was sentenced Tuesday for four years in prison and three years’ of supervised release. He also agreed to pay the IRS nearly $3 million.