Former state Senate majority leader Malcolm Smith, who was found guilty of trying to buy his way onto the GOP ballot during the 2013 race for mayor, was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in prison. NY1's Courtney Gross filed the following report.

Once one of the most powerful men in Albany, Malcolm Smith is now heading to federal prison.

Gross: Any reaction to the sentence?
Smith: I just thank God for the opportunity I've had to serve.

The former majority leader of the state Senate was sentenced to seven years behind bars on Wednesday morning. It's the result of a bribery and fraud conviction earlier this year.

It was a trial that put the former Democratic lawmaker at the center of an elaborate scheme to bribe his way into the 2013 race for mayor. Smith worked with an undercover agent posing as a real estate developer to pay off GOP leaders to secure the party's ballot line.  

It was a courtroom drama full of undercover video.

"Let's just say for instance, you have a business arrangement with all five of them, and you're doing business with them. That's none of my business," Smith says in the video.

Prosecutors say Smith was greedy for power, a greed that led him silently walking into court Wednesday morning facing serious time behind bars.

He barely uttered a word inside the courtroom, only pointing to a letter he personally submitted to the judge asking for leniency. It describes his commitment to the people of his Queens district, one he represented for 15 years.

After factoring in that service, the judge in White Plains dismissed prosecutors' recommendation of a sentence of eight to 10 years behind bars. Instead, he went with seven.

"I'm confident that he looked at everything in connection with the sentence, but nevertheless disappointed," said Gerald Shargel, Smith's attorney.

Smith's co-defendant, Vincent Tabone, made a tearful plea for leniency inside the courtroom.

Tabone was the vice chairman of the Queens Republican Party. In 2013, he accepted a cash bribe in a dimly lit SUV with a promise to back Smith for mayor. 

Tabone was sentenced to three-and-a-half years behind bars.

Both men will report to prison this fall, Smith on September 21 and Tabone on October 1.