Ex-official sentenced in election plot

CONCORD, N.H. -- Former Republican National Committee official James Tobin was sentenced to 10 months in prison yesterday for his role in an Election Day phone-jamming plot against New Hampshire Democrats.

Tobin, of Bangor, was found guilty in December on two felony telephone harassment charges. He also was fined $10,000, followed by two years of probation. Prosecutors had asked for a two-year prison sentence.

Tobin, 45, was convicted of helping a top state GOP official find someone to jam Democratic get-out-the-vote lines on Election Day 2002. Republican John Sununu defeated Governor Jeanne Shaheen for the US Senate that day in what had been considered a cliffhanger.

Tobin was a regional official of the RNC and of the GOP committee focused on winning US Senate races. He later became New England chairman of President Bush's 2004 reelection campaign, but stepped down when Democrats accused him of playing a role in the jamming.

US District Judge Steven McAuliffe said yesterday that he wished Tobin ''had a better sense of how serious this was."

Tobin apologized, saying he wished he hadn't gotten involved or had acted to stop it.