Bloomberg campaign operative sentenced in fraud case

A former political consultant for Mayor Michael Bloomberg was sentenced to up to four years in state prison Monday for siphoning campaign cash from the mayor during his 2009 re-election bid.

While John Haggerty, 42, said in Manhattan Supreme Court that his "reputation is destroyed," the judge refused to give the Republican operative from Queens a lighter punishment.

He was also ordered to repay the mayor the $750,000 he was charged with stealing. Prosecutors say the money was supposed to go toward a poll-watching initiative sponsored by the state Independence Party, but was instead pocketed by Haggerty to buy a house.

His lawyer is appealing the convictions of money laundering and grand larceny, which a jury found him guilty of in October.