AUSTIN, Tex.  Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, was sentenced to three years in prison on Monday for money laundering and conspiracy stemming from his role in a scheme to channel corporate contributions to Texas state races in 2002.

Mr. DeLay, once one of the most powerful and polemical Republican congressmen in the state, was ushered out of Travis County Court after the sentencing and was taken by sheriff’s deputies to the county jail. He later posted a $10,000 bond and was released pending an appeal, his lawyers said.

After listening to Mr. DeLay say he felt he had done nothing wrong, Judge Pat Priest sentenced him to three years in prison for the conspiracy count and 10 years of probation for the money laundering count. The judge rejected arguments from Mr. DeLay that the trial had been a politically motivated vendetta mounted by an overzealous Democratic district attorney.

“Before there were Republicans and Democrats, there was America, and what America is about is the rule of law,” the judge said just before pronouncing the sentence.