Former Harrisburg, Pa., Mayor Steve Reed received two years of supervised probation after he pleaded guilty to 20 counts of receiving stolen property.
Two counts were felonies.
Prosecutors in July 2015 accused Reed, Harrisburg's mayor from 1982 to 2009, with diverting municipal bond proceeds to a special projects fund he allegedly used to buy as many as 10,000 Wild West artifacts and other "curiosities" for himself.
Reed failed in his attempt to open a city museum of the Wild West.
All the while, Harrisburg plunged toward receivership, due to bond financing overruns related to an incinerator retrofit project. After a federal judge negated the City Council's Chapter 9 filing late in 2011, a state-appointed receivership team crafted a recovery plan for the city that received state court approval two years later.
Reed will also pay a $2,000 fine and reimburse for prosecution costs, Senior Judge Kevin Hess ruled Friday in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas in Harrisburg.
"For the whole thing to be over is a total relief," Reed told reporters after the hearing.
Reed four days earlier pleaded guilty to the charges while 94 other charges were dismissed.
According to current Mayor Eric Papenfuse, the sentence was too light.
"I don't feel that we sent the right, strong message that we should about public corruption," said Papenfuse.
Mark Schwartz, a Bryn Mawr, Pa., attorney who briefly counseled Reed after his July 2015 indictment, sought leniency for Reed.
"Former Attorney General [Kathleen] Kane showed both ignorance and vindictiveness for bringing charges against Stephen Reed over these bond issues," Schwartz wrote Hess.
"Mayor Reed hardly put a gun to the head of bond counsel and other bond issue participants who abdicated their legal responsibilities in favor of reaping millions of dollars in fees. These are the true villains of Harrisburg."
Schwartz represented the City Council in its bankruptcy filing.
