WASHINGTON -- Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to four years in prison for fraud and conspiracy to corrupt public officials, the culmination of Mr. Abramoff's long fall from his position as a political-influence broker.

In an emotional appearance in Washington Thursday, Mr. Abramoff told U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle that he is "a broken man" whose name has become synonymous with corruption. Behind him in a packed courtroom, his wife and five teenage children cried at the sight of the onetime power broker...