A judge imposed a sentence of nearly four years for the ex-president of a populous New Orleans parish best known for sobbing during a nationally televised interview during Hurricane Katrina's chaotic aftermath.

Former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard will serve 46 months and pay a $280,000 fine for a payroll fraud scheme that also involved his wife. A federal judge also ordered Broussard to return $66,000 in bribery money and make restitution to Jefferson Parish.

The populist Democrat pleaded guilty to conspiracy and theft charges in September.

He resigned as parish president in 2010, ending a career of four decades in politics.

Broussard and another man were charged with plotting to give a lucrative parish job to Karen Parker, Broussard's wife, for work she never performed.