An Arizona man accused of trying to extort Georgia Tech by falsely accusing its men's basketball coach of sexual assault has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison, federal prosecutors said.

Ronald Bell, 57, of Oro Valley, Arizona, was sentenced Thursday to two years, nine months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a news release. Bell pleaded guilty in March to conspiring with his co-defendant, Jennifer Pendley, and a security guard at Georgia Tech, to the extortion scheme.