Federal prosecutors were seeking 30 to 37 months in prison for Creamer, who pleaded guilty to the two felony charges last August.

Creamer and his attorneys were seeking to avoid any time behind bars, and Schakowsky expressed unhappiness with the decision by U.S. District Judge James Moran to jail Creamer, although both she and her husband were pleased that his sentence was for a far shorter period than recommended by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. Schakowsky was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

“I am obviously disappointed that Bob’s sentence included incarceration, but we accept the judge’s decision and look forward to the day that we can finally put this nearly decade-long chapter behind us,” Schakowsky told reporters following her husband’s court appearance. “Bob’s decision last fall to enter into a plea agreement was not an easy one ... I’m proud of him for the way he has handled himself throughout this process. Bob has apologized, he has learned from this experience, and he is prepared to accept the consequences.”

House Republicans jumped on the news as a way to divert attention from their own legal and ethical problems. The National Republican Congressional Committee issued a statement blasting Schakowsky and Democrats as a whole for hypocrisy in light of the Democratic attacks on the GOP throughout the Jack Abramoff scandal.

“Hopefully now Congresswoman Schakowsky realizes that mistakes don’t land you in federal prison, crimes do,” NRCC spokesman Ed Patru said. “We are waiting for comment from [Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi and National Democrats.”

Schakowsky’s office countered that while serious, Creamer’s crimes were not committed by a Member of Congress, but by a Congressional spouse.

“Republicans are desperate to change the subject from the very serious criminal charges their Members themselves have been charged with and convicted of,” said Jon Samuels, Schakowsky’s spokesman. “They have put the Congress up for sale to the special interests and now they will do anything to deflect attention away from that fact.”

Creamer, a Democratic consultant, pleaded guilty last August to running a check-kiting scheme in 1997 while he was executive director of a Chicago nonprofit group. Creamer manipulated checking accounts at several banks in order to obtain what federal prosecutors charge were “unauthorized and unsecured short-term loans” worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Creamer also failed to pay nearly $1,900 in taxes owed to the federal government.

Following a lengthy investigation, a federal grand jury indicted Creamer in March 2004 on 34 counts of fraud and tax evasion worth millions of dollars, although he pleaded guilty to only two counts last summer.