WASHINGTON (AP) — Former District of Columbia Councilmember Michael A. Brown was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in prison for taking over $50,000 in bribes in an undercover FBI sting, a comparatively stiff sentence from a judge who said “we cannot have city government run this way.”

The 39-month sentence imposed by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts nearly matched prosecutors’ request for a 43-month prison term — the most Brown could have received under the terms of his plea bargain.