MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former District of Columbia Councilmember Michael Brown has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for taking more than $50,000 in bribes in an undercover FBI sting.

The 39-month sentence Thursday from a federal judge in Washington nearly matched prosecutors’ request for a 43-month prison term.

Brown’s lawyers had sought a more lenient sentence.

Brown admitted taking bribes from a man he thought was a businessman seeking preferential treatment on government contracts. The businessman turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.

Brown apologized and said he should have resisted the District’s culture of corruption.

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