The Crown is recommending that advertising executive Jean Brault serve between two and three years in prison for his role in the sponsorship scandal.

Crown prosecutor Jacques Dagenais told Quebec Superior Court that Brault needs to go to jail because he was an "eager participant" in the scam.

"It was not Mr. Brault who organized the scheme but he was an important cog in the scheme that poisoned our system of government," Dagenais said.

"The regret he shows should be viewed in the context that Mr. Brault was inexorably caught."

Brault, the founder of Groupaction Marketing, pleaded guilty to five of six fraud-related charges earlier this month. Brault still faces one conspiracy charge in a separate proceeding. Each fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Request for conditional sentence

Brault's lawyer Harvey Yarosky asked the court for a conditional sentence that includes house arrest, saying his client has already lost his business and reputation.

Yarosky also reminded Justice Fraser Martin that Brault was co-operative with RCMP investigators and at Justice John Gomery's public inquiry.

"The role that Mr. Brault played in uncovering the whole system involved here was key," Yarosky said. "We wouldn't have the same Gomery report that we have today were it not for Mr. Brault.

"He rendered a tremendous service of value to society in exposing this whole system."

At his sentencing hearing, which began Monday in Quebec Superior Court, Brault said he was not proud of his role in the sponsorship scandal.

"I'm not looking to excuse what I did," Brault told Martin.

Brault told the court that he was naive when he was asked to contribute money to the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal party in exchange for government contracts.

He admitted to defrauding the government of $1.6 million and blamed his own greed when asked why he did it.

"It wasn't an accounting error," Brault testified.

"I committed it (the fraud) to accede to the requests of the Liberal party and to compensate for legal work I had done that I had not been paid for."

Martin reserved his decision until May 5.

Offer for payback

Yarosky said Brault proposed paying back the $1.6 million but the Crown said he actually offered just $189,000.

Brault claims the government owes him $800,000 for legitimate work and he has deducted the $614,000 he paid in taxes.

"I don't think that's worth a lot of points for Mr. Brault," Dagenais said.

Brault is one of three communications executives to face criminal charges in the sponsorship probe, including advertising executive Paul Coffin and retired bureaucrat Chuck Guite.

In September, Coffin was sentenced to two years less a day, to be served in the community, and was ordered to give speeches at universities about ethics in business.

Coffin had pleaded guilty to a long list of more than 15 charges for defrauding the government of $1.5 million through the sponsorship program.

A Quebec Superior Court judge let Coffin avoid jail time because of his clean record, his repayment of more than $1 million to the federal government, and his remorse.

The Crown is appealing the community sentence.

Guite is also facing fraud and conspiracy charges for his alleged role in the scandal, and he plans to represent himself when his trial begins May 1.

Together, Guite and Brault are accused of defrauding the government of more than $2 million.

During his trial, Brault pleaded not guilty to a remaining charge of conspiracy, and is expected to go to trial on that charge at a later date.

The sponsorship program

The sponsorship program was originally created with the intention of marketing federalism within Quebec and combating separatist sentiment.

The campaign was put into place after the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty, which favoured federalism by a very slight margin.

An inquiry later found that $155 million of about $355 million in funding set aside for the program found its way to Liberal-friendly ad agencies and middle-men who often performed little or no work for the reward.

Part of the money was siphoned back to the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal Party, with $800,000 in official donations and more than $1 million in kick-backs.

Justice John Gomery, the head of the inquiry into the sponsorship scandal, recommended in his final report that the government put in place tough new laws to protect the public service from political interference and to hold accountable any politicians who break the rules.

Gomery's report calls for curbs on the ability of the prime minister to manage special reserve funds -- the kind used to support sponsorship projects under prime minister Jean Chretien.

His measures would also dilute the prime minister's sole power to appoint deputy ministers in each government department, and he calls for an end to political appointments to Crown corporations.

With a report from The Canadian Press