Ex-New Orleans mayor sentenced to 10 years for corruption

Former New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin leaves court after being sentenced to 10 years in New Orleans, Louisiana July 9, 2014. A jury in February found Nagin guilty of charges including bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and tax evasion, all in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. [Photo/Agencies]

HOUSTON - The former mayor of New Orleans, a port city in the southern United States, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for corruption, local media reported.

Ray Nagin, a 58-year-old Democrat who served for two terms as mayor of New Orleans from 2002 to 2010, was convicted on Feb 12 of bribery, wire fraud, tax evasion and other charges, including accepting bribes from private contractors who hoped to secure the city's rebuilding projects after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to the local daily Times-Picayune.

US District Judge Ginger Berrigan announced the sentence.

Nagin was known in 2005 for handling the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which broke New Orleans' levees, flooded the city and led to nearly 1,500 fatalities.

Prosecutors said Nagin accepted payments worth 500,000 US dollars over a period starting before Katrina struck the city and continued during the rebuilding years.

The sentence was met with objections from some prosecutors Wednesday, as they have sought a stiffer sentence for Nagin.

Assistant US Attorney Matthew Coman told the media outside the courthouse that a decision on whether to appeal will be made by US Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.

Nagin is set to report to prison on Sept 8. He could serve his term at a federal detention center in Oakdale, a city in central Louisiana.