SACRAMENTO - A well known San Francisco political activist who was convicted on charges of fraud and witness tampering this summer was sentenced this week in federal court to a year and a day in prison.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton also ordered a sobbing Julie Lee to be fined $5,000 and that she be placed on three years of supervision by federal probation authorities after her release.

Lee, 62, is due to surrender herself Nov. 4.

"Justice must be served, but it also must be tempered," the Sacramento Bee reported Karlton saying in court.

The Bee reported that a jury in July found Lee guilty of supplying false information and trying to tamper with witnesses after learning she was the target of inquiries by state and federal investigators as to how she spent money from a Parks and Recreation grant through her nonprofit San Francisco Neighbors Resource Center.

Federal authorities were able to prove the Lee actually laundered at least $125,000 of the grant into former San Francisco politico Kevin Shelley's successful 2002 run for secretary of state. Authorities said that there is no evident that Shelley was aware of the deal.

Shelley, an influential former member of the state Assembly, was elected Secretary of State in 2003. However, he resigned under a cloud of scandal two years later in March 2005. He has remained out of government life since leaving office.