Man repays unemployment benefits

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A man who collected about $1,100 in unemployment benefits nearly 50 years ago has repaid California $10,000, officials said.

Dennis Ferguson, 74, lived in California 46 years ago and collected unemployment for about 5 months, KTXL-TV, Sacramento, reported.

Now living in South Carolina, Ferguson said he wanted to thank California for the help he received and that $10,000 seemed like a round number.

Ferguson used his unemployment benefits to pay for temporary housing and to learn computer programming.

Officials said Ferguson wrote in the note section of the check he was sending it for "repayment for what California did for me."

The funds will probably go into an education fund, officials said.