THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. -- Prosecutors will now decide whether to charge nine state troopers with theft for allegedly using fake diplomas to get pay raises.

Prosecutors said word of mouth is how information about obtaining allegedly fake diplomas made the rounds of the Washington State Patrol.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jon Tunheim said the nine troopers, who worked all across the state, are connected by the way in which they learned about the alleged fake diplomas.

"One of the reasons that this went out to a number of troopers is because the word kind of got passed out that this had happened with other troopers," he said.

The State Patrol began investigating after federal agents shut down a diploma mill in Spokane that had already awarded thousands of fake diplomas. However, the agency won't say if the nine troopers got their diplomas from the Spokane operation.

Following tips that there may be more troopers involved, the Problem Solvers obtained a database from the State Patrol for all 567 troopers getting extra pay. An examination of the database revealed no indication that other troopers had questionable degrees from non-existent schools.

"My first impression is that the investigation here has been very thorough," Tunheim said.

Troopers can boost their pay significantly with college diplomas -- a 2-percent increase for a two-year degree and a 4-percent hike for a four-year degree.

Prosecutors will have to decide if the troopers were intentionally seeking these diplomas to defraud the state.

"What wasn't passed around is 'hey, this is a good way to defraud our employer.' What was passed around was 'hey, this is a way that we could qualify, perhaps, for this incentive,"' said Tunheim.

A tenth trooper has been added to the investigation, but that investigation is on hold because he is currently overseas on military deployment.

Prosecutors expect to make a decision on charges by the end of the month.