BOULDER, Colo. -- A man who last summer sparked a frantic search with a story about his Marine friend believed to be disoriented and wandering around a canyon with a head injury has been ordered to pay $33,000 after pleading guilty to false reporting.

Steve Powers, 21, pleaded guilty to the charge Monday and was also sentenced to two years probation by Boulder County District Judge D.D. Mallard.

The charge stemmed from the disappearance of Lance Hering, 21, Powers' Marine buddy on leave from Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Hering has been missing since Aug. 30, when Powers reported his friend had apparently wandered away after falling while rock-climbing, sparking a five-day search involving authorities and hundreds of volunteers. Hering was due back at Camp Pendleton on Sept. 18 but was visiting his parents in Boulder when he disappeared.

West has said investigators have obtained surveillance video of Hering buying a bus ticket in Denver a day after his reported disappearance.

Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Hering on a felony charge of failure to comply with terms of a deferred sentence from a 2004 burglary charge and a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit false reporting to authorities. Mallard revoked a deferred felony sentence for Powers stemming from a 2004 burglary charge.

Boulder County sheriff's Cmdr. Phil West said authorities became suspicious of Powers' statements.

Powers said the pair staged the disappearance because Hering feared for his life because of what he had witnessed in Iraq. Authorities have not been able to confirm Powers' statement.

Hering was assigned to Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Camp Pendleton officials have said.

Eight Marines and a Navy corpsman belonging to the unit face charges in the April 2005 shooting death of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania, Iraq. Five have pleaded guilty to several charges, including Cpl. Trent Thomas, 25, who last week pleaded guilty to murder and other charges including kidnapping, conspiracy and making a false official statement.