Landscape business owner Robert Lane Camp was sentenced this morning to three months in prison and another three months under house arrest as part of a federal five-year probation for harboring an illegal immigrant who later murdered a Houston police officer.

Camp, 48, pleaded guilty to employing and harboring Leonardo Quintero, the Mexican laborer convicted of shooting Rodney Johnson four times in the head after a traffic stop in 2006.

Camp told U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore that he thought it was just a civil violation that he employed Quintero, who he knew was illegally here, so he paid his salary to the worker's wife, who had a Social Security number.

“I never for an instant thought I would be here,” Camp said as he stood before the federal judge. He said it's hard to hire people with legal documentation to help in his landscaping business because “it's hot, it's dirty and it's long hours.” But he also said he's kept up his business using legal workers since his employee killed a policeman.

“I'm very sorry and apologize to the court and my family and friends. I've shamed a lot of people, including myself,” Camp said to a courtroom half filled with his supporters.

Also in court was Houston police Sgt. Joslyn Johnson, the widow of Officer Rodney Johnson. “It was a slap in the face,” she said. “He's just as guilty as Quintero in my eyes and just as guilty as Carter's Country for selling the gun.”

Sgt. Johnson settled her civil lawsuit against Camp for an undisclosed amount but is pursuing a civil lawsuit against the store that sold Quintero the gun. Quintero was sentenced in May 2008 to life in prison. She said Quintero usually carried the gun he used to kill her husband and should not have been allowed by law to purchase it.

Prosecutors Jay Hileman and Ryan McConnell asked the judge to include the prison and home confinement in the probation. Most cases like this do not end in any kind of prison time for the business owners.

Camp employed Quintero, rented him a home, bailed him out of jail when he was charged with indecency with a child and helped him return to this country after he was deported.

Sgt. Johnson was upset to see Camp leave the court with his family and friends. “He's out on bond, he gets to enjoy his family,” she said.

The judge released Camp until a future date when he is scheduled to serve his prison term.

Sgt. Johnson implored employers be more vigilant about hiring undocumented workers, especially those such as Quintero who have been found guilty of prior charges and been deported.

mary.flood@chron.com