New York: US President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison for a string of offences, including campaign law violations he said he committed at Trump's direction.

US District Judge William Pauley said Cohen needed to spend significant time in jail because he had committed a "veritable smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct" and was motivated by "personal greed and ambition".

In sentencing Cohen to 36 months in prison, Pauley noted that Cohen said he had made illicit hush-money payments to a porn star and a Playboy model "at the coordination with and the direction of Individual-1" - a reference to Trump.

Cohen, who worked for Trump from 2006 until this year, also admitted to lying to Congress about Trump's plans to build a tower in Moscow because the truth would have conflicted with Trump's political messaging.