As a federal prosecutor, Sam Currin spent six years prosecuting drug dealers, pornographers and other criminals. Now, he will spend nearly the same amount of time in prison himself.

Currin, 58, whose career included stints as a judge and as chairman of the state's Republican Party, became the latest North Carolina leader to be sent to jail when he was sentenced this week in federal court to 70 months behind bars on money laundering and obstruction charges.

His attorney, Mark Calloway, would not comment about the sentence.

Currin rose through the political and legal ranks as a protege of then-Sen. Jesse Helms. He worked as an aide to Helms, a conservative Republican who eventually nominated him for the U.S. attorney position and later for a federal judgeship, which Democrats vehemently opposed. Critics of the nomination called Currin a religious and political zealot and accused him of lying in a 1982 personnel hearing over his firing of a paralegal.

Currin, 58, was never confirmed. But he served as a Superior Court judge before becoming the Republican Party chairman.

Though Currin hasn't had a leading role in politics since he was ousted as Republican Party chairman in 1999, his actions could contribute to a sense of mistrust of government. Voters have seen Meg Scott Phipps, a Democrat who was the state's agriculture secretary, former Democratic House Speaker Jim Black and state Rep. Michael Decker sentenced for illegal activities.

"It adds to this sort of feeling of scandal and corruption in politics at the moment," said Andy Taylor, the political science chairman at N.C. State University. "Perhaps its another thing that Democrats can say when they point to Republican corruption."

Advocates for ethics in politics say this shouldn't be used as political fodder.

"Currin was a player in politics in a big way, but, unlike some others, his wrongdoing wasn't connected to his political works," said Bob Phillips, the state's executive director of Common Cause, an ethics reform group.

"I think it reinforces attitudes that are pretty hardened about people who have been in public service, and that feeling is that they are prone to mistakes," Phillips said. "It's unfortunate because that's a perception and not reality."

Currin, who has about 90 days before he has to report to prison, has agreed to testify against his former business associates.

The crimes he was sentenced for Tuesday stem from Currin's work as a lawyer in private practice.

Currin pleaded guilty in November to federal charges that he conspired to launder about $1.3 million that a computer spam artist made by inundating e-mail inboxes with stock schemes.

Prosecutors say Currin's role netted him more than $240,000. He funneled money from the scheme into his law firm's trust account, and later lied about it to a grand jury.

Carter Wrenn, a veteran Republican consultant and former Helms strategist, said Wednesday that he remembers Currin as a competent, nice person.

"I knew Sam pretty well back in the Helms years, and I'm sorry for him and his family," Wrenn said. "I guess he made some pretty unfortunate and bad mistakes."