The first person charged in the federal sponsorship scandal will not be going to prison.

Advertising executive Paul Coffin has been sentenced to a conditional sentence of two years less a day to be served in the community

Coffin pleaded guilty earlier this year to 15 fraud charges.

The Crown had asked for a 34-month sentence; Coffin’s lawyer had suggested what he received.

Coffin pleaded guilty in May to defrauding the federal government of $1.5 million between 1997 and 2002 for doing little or no work. He has reimbursed the government about $1-million.