Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin received a sentence of 10 years in federal prison for public corruption Wednesday morning.
The sentencing came five months after a jury convicted Nagin on 20 of 21 counts of bribery, wire fraud, tax evasion and other charges.
Nagin, a Democrat, served two terms as mayor of New Orleans, and was supposed to lead the city during Hurricane Katrina.
Nagin was arrested in January 2013, after he had left office. He committed many of the crimes he was sentenced for, such as taking kickbacks in the form of cash, during his second term, when New Orleans was trying to rebuild in the wake of Katrina.
The former elected official refused to acknowledge his guilt throughout his two-week trial, and Robert Jenkins, the lawyer who represented Nagin, pleaded for leniency.
“These repeated violations, at the expense of the citizens of New Orleans in a time when honest leadership was needed most, do not deserve leniency,” wrote Matthew M. Coman, an assistant United States attorney.
Nagin, New Orleans’ first mayor to be convicted and sent to prison for public corruption, is scheduled to begin carrying out his sentence Sept. 8.