3 years for ex-House leader Tom DeLay

AUSTIN, Texas - A judge ordered former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay Monday to serve three years in prison for his role in a 2002 scheme to funnel corporate money illegally to Texas candidates.

The sentence comes after a jury convicted DeLay in November on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Republican, who represented the Houston area, was once one of the most powerful people in U.S. politics, ascending to the No. 2 job in the House of Representatives.

During a several-minute statement to the judge before sentencing, DeLay repeated his long-standing claims that the prosecution was politically motivated and that he never intended to break the law.

"I can't be remorseful for something I don't think I did," DeLay said.

Senior Judge Pat Priest sentenced him to the three-year term on the conspiracy charge. He also sentenced him to five years in prison on the money laundering charge but allowed DeLay to accept 10 years of probation instead of more prison time.

DeLay was immediately taken into custody, but Priest granted a request from his attorneys that he be released on a $10,000 bond pending appeal, once he is processed at the county jail.

After a monthlong trial in November, a jury determined that he conspired with two associates to use his Texas-based political action committee to send $190,000 in corporate money to an arm of the Washington-based Republican National Committee. - AP