James Holderman, 68, of Charleston, will also face three years' probation and will have to do community service after completing his sentence. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck denied him bond and sent him straight to prison.

Holderman had no visible reaction when the sentence was announced.

"For me, time is pretty precious," he told the judge before being sentenced. "I've been told many times that I'm bipolar, a manic depressive. ... I'm slipping daily in my short-term memory."

Holderman was convicted in September on all four charges against him: conspiracy to launder money, attempted money laundering, conspiracy to sell false immigration documents and offering to sell false immigration documents. He faced as much as 20 years in prison.

Defense attorney Neil Nameroff said he would appeal the conviction and the sentence.

Holderman had claimed the FBI lured him into crimes he never intended to commit while desperate for money to treat his bipolar disorder. He already had two convictions on his record.

As USC president, Holderman was known as a big spender who knew people in high places.

He brought Pope John Paul II and President Reagan to the university for visits during his 13-year tenure, which ultimately ended in a financial scandal in 1990, the year he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Holderman was convicted of state charges in the university scandal and subsequent federal bankruptcy fraud charges.

In the FBI sting, Holderman brought his protege, former Dallas college administrator Rafael Diaz Cabral, into dealings with the officer posing as a drug-dealing Russian mobster. Diaz, of Greenville County, testified against Holderman in exchange for a 14-month sentence.

Jurors saw videotapes of their arrests counting $15,000 out of $400,000 dumped on a hotel room table by the officer and heard several other tapes secretly made during the nine-month investigation.

Prosecutors said Holderman and Diaz, 39, agreed to accept $250,000 in drug profits for the purchase of a casino license from Diaz's father in the Dominican Republic.

Nameroff insisted no money was laundered, no visas were obtained and Holderman only planned to rip off the undercover officer by doing nothing in return for his cash.

Holderman testified that he took $30,000 from Miami Beach police detective Sgt. Peter Smolyanski as part of his own "charade" to get mental health treatment. Smolyanski told the pair he wanted U.S. visas for himself and up to 200 associates and $500,000 to $1 million a month in clean profits from his crimes.

"I was desperate for money, and I was grasping at straws. I needed to get on my medications," Holderman testified during his trial. He claimed he never intended to take part in a money laundering operation.

"I didn't think for $10,000 or $15,000 that he would break my legs. ... I was willing to take the risk," he testified.

Holderman said he talked up his connections to White House chief of staff Andrew Card, former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger and former White House chief of staff Howard Baker, but never contacted them about the pretend mobster.

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