Chuck Guité, the former civil servant who ran the federal sponsorship program, was sentenced Monday to 3½ years in prison for his conviction on fraud charges.

Guité, 62, was convicted on June 6 of defrauding Ottawa of $1.5 million in his handling of five government contracts.

Chuck Guité, shown on June 6, 2006, will likely serve about one-sixth of the sentence and be out by the end of the year.
(CBC)

"Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the case was Mr. Guité's studied and persistent lack of remorse," wrote Quebec Superior Court Justice Fraser Martin in the decision handed down on Monday.

Martin said the crime deserved a stiff sentence because it was committed by someone in a position of trust.

The maximum sentence is 10 years. Crown prosecutors had sought a sentence of three to four years in prison, while the defence lawyer had recommended a two-year sentence.

Guité will likely serve about one-sixth of the sentence and be out by the end of the year, because it was a non-violent crime, he has no previous criminal record and he is considered a low risk to re-offend.

Guité shows little reaction to sentence

Martin noted Guité appeared to have withdrawn into himself during the trial, becoming very quiet and subdued.

"The flamboyant and self-assured Chuck Guité appears to have withdrawn into himself and become a shadow of his former self," he said.

Guité showed little reaction after hearing the sentence, merely leaning over to quietly speak with his lawyer.

He had faced fraud charges surrounding five contracts he approved. Two involved the embattled firearms registry, while the others involved efforts to increase the former Liberal government's visibility after the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum.

Guité defended himself during the three-week trial, but hired a lawyer to present his sentencing arguments.

He has already said he plans to appeal the conviction.

2 others also sentenced to jail

Two other prominent figures from the sponsorship scandal had previously received jail terms for their roles.

Jean Brault, the president of the Groupaction advertising firm, pleaded guilty to fraud involving the same five contracts that came back to haunt Guité.

Brault was handed a 2½-year sentence after pleading guilty.

As well, advertising executive Paul Coffin was sentenced to 18 months behind bars for fraud charges that involved $1.5 million worth of contracts. He too had pleaded guilty.

The sponsorship scandal tarnished the Liberal Party of Canada's reputation in the two years leading up to its defeat in the January 2006 federal election.

During hearings of the Gomery public inquiry into what went wrong in the program's administration, Canadians learned that an unknown amount of federal dollars were channelled back into the coffers of the Liberal party's Quebec wing in the form of donations.