NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – The pride and arrogance that drove former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland to sell his influence had withered to humility by Friday, when he accepted the prison sentence that underlined his political collapse.

Seeking mercy from the judge, the once-powerful three-term governor confessed he had lost his way morally. Later, after comforting his sobbing family, he snuck out a back door to avoid reporters.

Before being sentenced to a year in prison and four months’ house arrest, Rowland told U.S. District Judge Peter C. Dorsey “a sense of entitlement and even arrogance” propelled the corruption that led to his downfall.

“I let my pride get in my way.”

Rowland, 47, admitted accepting more than $100,000 in trips to Las Vegas, vacations in Vermont and Florida, and improvements at his lakeside cottage in exchange for political favors.

But contrition came only after months of defiant denials, even as legislators put together a case for impeaching him. He resigned last summer and pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge in December.

“There is a pervasive sense of sadness about this almost surreal day,” said Gov. M. Jodi Rell, lieutenant governor under Rowland and a fellow Republican. “Sadness about talent wasted, lives ruined, achievements overshadowed.”

Dorsey cited Rowland’s public service and his children in handing down the sentence, which disappointed prosecutors. His plea bargain had called for 15 to 21 months in prison, but the prosecution accused him of lying about his finances to a probation officer and said he should get up to 37 months.

“He has corrupted the office of the governor as if he took a bag of cash in a dark alley,” prosecutor Nora Dannehy argued.

After hearing the sentence, Rowland hugged his wife, Patty, and his two daughters. He ran his fingers through his wife’s hair and she mouthed to him, “It will be all right.”

Rowland becomes one of more than a dozen former governors to be sent to prison. Among those jailed in the past few years: Edward D. DiPrete of Rhode Island and Edwin Edwards of Louisiana.

He was the boy wonder of Connecticut politics: a congressman at 27, the youngest governor in state history at 37.

Though a Republican in a heavily Democratic state, the charismatic Rowland enjoyed high approval ratings. President Bush appointed him to White House advisory committees and affectionately called him “Johnny.”

But federal prosecutors said Rowland ran a corrupt office, with aides steering state business to companies in exchange for cash, gold coins and expensive gifts. Rowland’s former co-chief of staff, Peter Ellef, and state contractor William Tomasso are under indictment and could get up to 20 years in prison.

“Officials are expected to serve not his own interest or the interest of his friends, but the highest interest of the community,” the judge said. “Gratuities were accepted as if they were his due.”

As the investigation against members of Rowland’s administration unfolded, each week brought new and damaging information. He was forced to admit that contractors paid for his home improvements and that state employees bought him a hot tub. Memos revealed that he had accepted Cuban cigars from a state contractor for years.

Rowland’s fate was ultimately sealed by $15,549 in gifts from Tomasso and $91,493 in free airfare from the charter company Key Air. Rowland stayed at Tomasso’s homes in Florida and Vermont four times in 1998 and 2002. Tomasso and other contractors and state employees provided renovations for Rowland’s cottage that included a cathedral ceiling, a heating system and gutter work.

A Key Air executive appealed to Rowland for tax help in 2001 or 2002, and eventually won a tax exemption from the governor.

Rowland’s sentence also included three years’ probation and an $82,000 fine. He was ordered to report to a federal prison in Ayer, Mass., on April 1.