A federal judge on Monday sentenced the ex-general manager of the largest municipal district in the country to six years in prison for bribery, accepting a downward variance recommended by the U.S. probation office that prosecutors said was too lenient.

David H. Wright, 62, is the first to be sentenced in a public corruption scandal involving a sham class action and collusive, multimillion-dollar contracts, with U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. in the Central District of California calling his conduct "egregious" and motivated by "pure greed."