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 D'Souza, 53, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in
Manhattan to live in a center, which would allow him to leave during
non-residential hours for employment, for the first eight months of
a five-year probationary period.
Berman also ordered D'Souza to perform one day of community service
a week during probation, undergo weekly therapy and pay a $30,000
fine.
D'Souza, a frequent critic of U.S. President Barack Obama, admitted
in May to illegally reimbursing two "straw donors" who donated
$10,000 each to the unsuccessful 2012 U.S. Senate campaign in New
York of Wendy Long, a Republican he had known since attending
Dartmouth College in the early 1980s.
"It was a crazy idea, it was a bad idea," D'Souza told Berman before
being sentenced. "I regret breaking the law."
Prosecutors had sought a 10-to 16-month prison sentence, rejecting
defense arguments that D'Souza was "ashamed and contrite" about his
crime and deserved probation with community service.
They cited statements D'Souza made in media interviews after his
guilty plea, where he discussed being "selectively" targeted for
prosecution.
Berman appeared to accept the prosecutors' position, playing a video
in which D'Souza talked about selective prosecution - an effort at
"spin," the judge said.
"I'm not sure, Mr. D'Souza, that you get it," Berman said before
announcing the sentence. "And it is still hard for me to discern any
personal acceptance of responsibility in this case."
The case has prompted criticism among some conservatives who accused
the government of selectively prosecuting D'Souza because of his
political views. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office
brought the case, is an Obama appointee.
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Despite comments early in the hearing, Berman ultimately decided
against prison, instead ordering community confinement. Benjamin
Brafman, D'Souza's lawyer, had argued no defendant in a case like
D'Souza's had previously been sent to prison.
"I'm just relieved and want to thank the judge for imposing a fair
sentence," D'Souza said after Tuesday's hearing.
The Indian-born D'Souza wrote the 2010 bestseller "The Roots of
Obama's Rage" and co-directed a 2012 film, "2016: Obama's America,"
which painted a bleak picture of the nation's future if the
Democratic president was reelected.
Prosecutors said D'Souza asked two friends and their spouses to
contribute $10,000 each to Long's campaign and then reimbursed them.
Campaign finance regulations at the time limited individual
donations to $5,000 maximum during an election cycle.
One friend was Denise Joseph, who was engaged to D'Souza while he
was still married to another woman.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement that "like
many others before him, of all political stripes, he has had to
answer for this crime - here with a felony conviction."
The case is U.S. v. D'Souza, U.S. District Court, Southern District
of New York, No. 14-cr-00034.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish
and Andrew Hay)
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