OMAHA, Neb. -- A former University of Michigan violin professor with ties to Nebraska has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to transporting a girl across state lines for sex.

A federal judge who sentenced 69-year-old Stephen Shipps on Thursday also ordered the Ann Arbor man to pay $120,000 in restitution.

Shipps offered an apology in court. His lawyer asked for no prison time.

The charges allege that Shipps took a girl across state lines several times in 2002. The girl was born in 1985, according to court documents.

James C. Harris III, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Detroit, said he hopes Shipps’ sentence “sends a powerful message to others in positions of trust that if you prey on the vulnerable you will be held accountable for your actions.”

His indictment in 2020 came two years after the university placed the longtime professor on paid leave after former students accused him of sexual misconduct while he taught them in the 1970s and 1980s in multiple locations, including the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Shipps also served on the faculties of Indiana University, the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Banff Centre in Canada, federal authorities said.