(Miami-AP) Dec. 29, 2003 - A former University of South Carolina president was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for scheming with an undercover officer to get visas under false names and to launder drug money.

James Holderman, 68, of Charleston, has faced a series of legal problems since resigning from his position at the university. In 1991, Holderman pleaded guilty to state income tax evasion. In 1996, a judge sentenced him to one year and one day in prison when Holderman pleaded guilty to federal bankruptcy fraud charges.

Holderman will also face three years' probation and will have to do community service after completing his three-year sentence. US District Judge Paul Huck denied him bond and sent him straight to prison.

He was convicted in September on all four counts. 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.

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

Holderman was president of South Carolina for 13 years until he resigned in 1990 amid scandals over his spending of public money for travel, lavish dinners and expensive gifts. He was convicted of official misconduct while he was USC president. While president at USC he helped arrange visits by Pope John Paul II and President Reagan.

Updated 6:15pm by Eva Pilgrim