Smile! Former Republican House leader Tom DeLay grins in his mugshot after he is jailed for three years

Tom Delay smiled for the camera in his booking photo, fresh off his prison sentence.

The former Republican House majority leader has been sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy for money laundering.

Texas judge Pat Priest handed down the ruling in an Austin courtroom on Monday.

DeLay was in good spirits as he entered the courthouse but said little to reporters before the hearing.

He was convicted last November on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering for his part in illegally funneling corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.

DeLay's lawyers asked for the minimum sentence which was probation. But prosecutors were pushing for the 63-year-old to spend at least 10 years in prison.

DeLay is expected to appeal.

Tom DeLay, known as ‘the Hammer’ for his tough tactics, was facing the rest of his days behind bars.

He was convicted by a jury last year of two charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The verdict came after a three-week trial in which prosecutors presented more than 30 witnesses and volumes of e-mails and other documents.

DeLay's lawyers maintain that the former Houston congressman did nothing wrong as no corporate funds went to Texas candidates and the money exchange was legal.

After the verdict was read out at the Travis County District Court in Austin, Texas, DeLay said: 'This is an abuse of power. It's a miscarriage of justice, and I still maintain that I am innocent.

'The criminalisation of politics undermines our very system and I'm very disappointed in the outcome.'

Prosecutors said DeLay, who once held the number two job in the House of Representatives, used his political action committee to illegally channel $190,000 in corporate donations into 2002 Texas legislative races through a money swap.

DeLay conspired with two associates, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, to use his Texas-based political action committee to send the money to an arm of the Republican National Committee, or RNC.

The RNC then sent the same amount to seven Texas House candidates and the Republicans went on to gain power. Under Texas law, corporate money can't go directly to political campaigns.

'This case is a message from the citizens of the state of Texas that the public officials they elect to represent them must do so honestly and ethically, and if not, they'll be held accountable,' Travis County District Attoey Rosemary Lehmberg said after the verdict.

'This was about holding public officials accountable, that no one is above the law and all persons have to abide by the law, no matter how powerful or lofty the position he or she might hold.'

DeLay, who has been out of the spotlight since resigning from Congress in 2006 apart from appearing on Dancing With the Stars last year, was bailed until sentencing today.

He was being supported by his wife Christine, his high-school sweetheart who he married in 1972, and his daughter, Danielle, who is a professional dancer.

He insisted that he is the victim of a political vendetta by Ronnie Earle, the former Democratic Travis County district attoey who originally brought the case and is now retired.

Ellis and Colyandro, who face lesser charges, will be tried later.

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