Corrupt former Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini must begin serving her three-year prison term Sunday after a federal judge yesterday denied a motion seeking a new trial.

The 76-year-old onetime burlesque queen was one of more than 40 people arrested in July 2009 in the massive Bid Rig III probe that was based on information gathered by FBI informant Solomon Dwek.

Beldini, who was treasurer of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s re-election campaign in 2009, was convicted in February 2010 on two counts of bribery. The jury found she accepted two $10,000 contributions from Dwek in exchange for official action in helping Dwek get approvals for his supposed real-estate deals.

Having already had her date for reporting to prison delayed a couple of times for health reasons, Beldini must now report on Sunday to Carswell Prison in Fort Worth, Texas.

Beldini waived her right to be present at yesterday’s hearing, citing ongoing health issues.

“I’m disappointed and I feel terrible for her,” her attorney Peter Willis said after the ruling.

Before Judge Jose Linares the same judge who presided over Beldini’s trial Willis argued yesterday morning that the former deputy mayor should be granted a new trial because Dwek used words such as “corrupt” and “bribe” while testifying.

“I’m not here in any way to embarrass this court, I have too much respect for you,” Willis said yesterday while arguing the key government witness was allowed to prejudice the jury because Linares had not stopped his inappropriate language

Willis said Dwek used the word “corrupt” or “corruption” 48 times, and “bribe” or “bribery” 37 times language that was barred from some of the subsequent Bid Rig III trials.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Moser argued the motion wasn’t valid because the attorney who represented Beldini at trial, Brian Neary, hadn’t objected to the testimony, a position Linares ultimately agreed with.

“When you have an experienced, well-known criminal lawyer trying a case a certain way, because in his own mind he thinks it benefits his trial ... maybe it would have been an unfair trial if I had ‘policed’ him,” Linares said during yesterday’s hearing.

Neary could not be reached for comment.

Recent knee surgery and several “mini-strokes” have left Beldini in a severely weakened state, Willis said.