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updated 12:26 p.m. ET Nov. 6, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two Ohio state police troopers have won back their jobs after being fired for pulling a Ku Klux Klan-type costume prank the day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

An arbitrator ruled Tuesday that the firings in May violated a union contract. The Highway Patrol said Wednesday that Craig Franklin and Eric Wlodarsky will return to work within 30 days. They also get back pay and benefits.

A patrol investigation found that Franklin had dressed in a white cone, mask and cloth, and that Wlodarsky sent a cell phone photo to a colleague.

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The Ohio State Troopers Association's attorney Herschel Sigall said the incident was "stupid, but not vicious." He criticized Gov. Ted Strickland for seeking the firings.