Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell speaks during a debate in Atlanta in this November 23, 1997 file photo. Campbell was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison on Tuesday on charges of tax evasion.[Reuters]

Former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in US federal prison on Tuesday on charges of tax evasion.

The two-term ex-mayor, who had been convicted of tax evasion in March after a US corruption trial, was also ordered to pay a US$6,000 fine and more than US$60,000 in back taxes. He said he would appeal.

"This is not justice," Campbell said on local television after his sentencing. "This is an abomination in terms of what we had expected and certainly in terms of what the jury's verdict was."

Campbell, Democratic mayor of Georgia's capital city from 1994 to 2002, was found guilty of three tax violation charges by a jury but was acquitted on four more serious charges of racketeering and bribery.

During a seven-week trial, prosecutors charged that Campbell accepted more than $150,000 in bribes while in office from people seeking city contracts or licenses, and spent it on lavish trips.

Campbell was indicted in August 2004 after a five-year investigation into municipal corruption.