Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James sentenced to 27 months in prison

Former Newark, New Jersey Mayor Sharpe James was sentenced to 27 months in prison on Tuesday for fraud, a sharp departure from the 20 year sentence sought by the prosecutors and the 12- to 15-year term recommended by federal sentencing guidelines.

The 72-year-old Democrat was convicted of five counts of fraud by a federal jury in April for selling city-owned property to a former girlfriend for approximately $46,000, which she then flipped for a profit of more than $600,000.

In addition to the 27 month sentence he handed out, United States District Judge William Martini ordered James to pay a $100,000 fine. But the judge also lectured prosecutors for adhering "heartlessly" to a request for a harsh sentence, the New York Times reported. Last week the judge dismissed prosecutor's request for a 20-year sentence which he called "shocking." "The city of Newark, as far as I can determine, did not lose anything of money," Judge Martini said on Tuesday.

James's former mistress, Tamika Riley, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution to the city, according to the Times. James and Riley are both scheduled to report to prison on September 15.

As a result of his conviction, James could be stripped of pensions that provide a six-figure annual income, according to the Associated Press.

Before he was sentenced, James apologized to his family and the city. "I made a mistake," he said. "I'm human. Some of his supporters also weighed in on the controversy, with one backer, identified by the New York Times as Rodney Davis, calling the trial a "modern-day lynching."

"White people don't understand," Davis told the Times, adding that James "has got a Newark style: urban, street, hip-hop, jazz, athletic, black."