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“Everything I have worked for, or achieved in my life, I have lost, or is at risk, from these proceedings,” he told the court.

The only regret he expressed in his statement was that he had ever met Frank Hall, co-owner of the voter-contact firm at the centre of the case and key witness against him, and the impact of the charges on his immediate and extended family.

“I never realized I was placing them in harm’s way simply by entering public life,” he said. He told the court he “deeply regretted” that effect of the case on them.

Many of his family members, including his wife Kelly, were in the courtroom to hear his statement.

The closest he came to contrition for the offences was a reference to the many sleepless nights he suffered since Cameron’s guilty verdict.

“My thought and prayers were dominated by questions, research, and discussions about things we could have done differently,” he said.

The former MP’s apparent lack of remorse was cited in sentencing arguments from Crown prosecutor Tom Lemon earlier in the case.

After he was found guilty in October, Del Mastro told reporters the verdict was simply Judge Lisa Cameron’s “opinion.”

That was “another demonstration of Mr. Del Mastro’s failure to recognize the seriousness of his actions,” Lemon told the court.

Cameron will sentence Del Mastro on June 26.

The Crown wants Del Mastro to serve between nine and 12 months in jail.

“In my submission, the only sufficient punishment is imprisonment,” Lemon said. “Obviously he suffered, but he suffered as direct result of his own conduct.”