NEWARK, N.J. — The former mayor of Newark broke a yearlong public silence since his indictment hours before being sentenced for corruption with an attitude rarely, if ever, seen during his 20 years as the leader of the state’s largest city: contrition.

“I would like to apologize to my wife of 44 years and my mother, who is 94, for the hardship and suffering they have had to endure,” Sharpe James told a hushed courtroom yesterday. “If I made a mistake, it was not of malice or intent.”

“I made a mistake. I’m a human being,” he said, without offering specifics.

The statements, especially poignant because the trial exposed details of an affair with a woman about half his age, did not appear to hurt his quest for leniency on convictions involving the sale of city land to her.

James, 72, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. His one-time mistress, Tamika Riley, 39, was sentenced to 15 months and ordered to repay $27,000 in a housing subsidy.

The penalties from U.S. District Judge William J. Martini, himself a former federal prosecutor, were far less than the 15- to 20-year range requested by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The judge said the prosecution request “disappoints me and shocks me,” noting that James did not take any bribes, and that recent sentences for elected officials convicted of bribery were seven years or less. Judge Martini said that James “has accomplished much in his life,” noting major projects that sprouted in Newark after being championed by the mayor, including a pro hockey arena, office towers, and a performing arts center.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said he would ask the Justice Department for permission to appeal both sentences, saying he disagreed with the judge’s reasoning.

“I don’t think it makes a difference if you get bribed with money or get bribed with sex,” Mr. Christie said.

Mr. Christie said he did not question the sincerity of James’ apology, but said, “I think he’s sorry he got caught.”

Judge Martini ordered James and Riley to surrender by September 15 to prisons that have yet to be assigned. Both are appealing their convictions.

Defense lawyers sought probation for James, who also was a Democratic state senator.

Prosecutors charged that James abused his office and betrayed his constituents by arranging for the sale of nine city-owned properties for $46,000 to Riley between 2001 and 2005. Riley quickly sold them for $665,000 without ever starting required rehabilitation work on most of them, prosecutors said.

The judge determined the city did not lose any money from the sales, but the prosecution contended the sentences should reflect that James gained companionship and that Riley cleared more than $430,000.