(AP) -- A former Democratic Bronx state assemblyman convicted of accepting $22,000 in bribes from businessmen in 2012 and 2013 has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Eric Stevenson was sentenced Wednesday.

Federal Judge Loretta Preska also ordered him to forfeit $22,000.

Attorney Murray Richman says Stevenson was struggling financially when businessmen offered him bribes representing about a third of his income.

Prosecutors say Stevenson deserved a serious sentence, in part, because it appears he never lived in the district that he served when he was running for office. They say he betrayed the public by taking bribes.

A jury in January found he accepted cash bribes to protect a new adult center in his district from competitors.