Updated at 3:37 p.m. ET

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a money-laundering case stemming from the 2002 elections.

DeLay, once one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress, was convicted in November for illegally funneling $190,000 in corporate money through the Republican National Committee to help elect Republicans to the Texas Legislature during the 2002 elections.

Texas judge Pat Priest sentenced DeLay to three years on a conspiracy charge and also sentenced him to five years in prison for money laundering. Priest, however, allowed DeLay to accept 10 years probation on the money laundering charge, assuming he meets certain conditions set by the court.

DeLay could have received up to life in prison on the money laundering and conspiracy charges.

The former Houston area congressman, known as "The Hammer," was unrepentant today in court. "I fought the fight. I ran the race. I kept the faith," he said, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Former House speaker Dennis Hastert, DeLay's former boss, attested to the character of his top lieutenant. DeLay left Congress in 2006 and served in the House's No. 2 job from 2003 to 2005.

DeLay was found guilty in November for illegally funneling $190,000 in corporate money through the Republican National Committee to help elect Republicans to the Texas Legislature during the 2002 elections.

DeLay, 63, maintained his innocence even after he was convicted last year, arguing a "miscarriage of justice" and denouncing what he called "the criminalization of politics."

Matt Angle, a former congressional aide who heads up the Lone Star Project, said DeLay's legacy will live on in Texas no matter how much time prison time the Republican serves.

"There is little reason to feel comfort in justice being served to Tom DeLay today," said Angle, an aide to former congressman Martin Frost, a Texas Democrat. "His corrupt, partisan legacy lives on in Austin and is being practiced enthusiastically by the Republicans currently control in Texas."

(Posted by Catalina Camia)