MINOT, N.D. -- A federal judge sentenced disgraced former Minot neurosurgeon Dr. Marc Eichler on Thursday to 36 months in prison for possession of child pornography, according to court records.

Eichler was originally charged with child sex abuse offenses in district court in Minot.

According to the probable cause affidavit in that case, Eichler exchanged sexually explicit texts and photos with two area girls in 2015 when they were 12 and 13. Eichler also is said to have provided the first girl with alcohol and tobacco and a smart phone and other gifts and also paid for hotel rooms in different locations for her and her friends as an incentive for her not to talk about the abuse. He had also been accused of sexually assaulting one of the girls when she was babysitting at his residence. The charges in state court were dropped when Eichler was indicted by a federal grand jury.

Eichler was formerly a neurosurgeon at Trinity Hospital in Minot. The North Dakota Board of Medicine has suspended his license to practice indefinitely citing unprofessional conduct.

Eichler will be on supervised probation for five years following his release from prison and must register as a sex offender. He must also have no contact with his victims. Under the terms of the plea deal, the government dismissed seven other counts against Eichler.

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In the judgement, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland gave his reasons for the relatively light sentence as the doctor could have faced 10 years in prison. Hovland wrote that Eichler has no prior criminal history, a psychologist has deemed him at low risk to reoffend, he has strong support and he made no threats of violence against the victims in the case, who were 12 and 13 at the time.

Hovland gave permission for Eichler to turn himself in at the Burleigh County Jail in Bismarck on May 30. Hovland recommends that Eichler serve his sentence at a low security correctional facility close to North Dakota so he can remain close to family.

Eichler was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in 2016 with two counts of production of materials depicting the sexual exploitation of minors; two counts of attempted production of materials depicting the sexual exploitation of minors; one count of receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors; one count of attempted receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors and one count of transfer of obscene materials to minors. He pleaded guilty to one count of possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of minors under the plea deal.