Former Chelsea Housing Authority Executive Director Michael McLaughlin has been sentenced to three years in prison after admitting to filing false financial reports.

McLaughlin, 67, had been under investigation after a November 2011 Boston Globe story revealed he had concealed his $360,000 salary – which made him one of the highest paid public housing executives in the country – from state officials. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is mounting an effort to retrieve hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds it believes were misappropriated by McLaughlin during his tenure, the Globe reported yesterday.

US District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock elected to sentence McLaughlin to three years, double the 18 months recommended by U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s office, which had arranged a plea deal with McLaughlin.