PHILADELPHIA — A former Pennsylvania mayor was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for trading city contracts for campaign contributions.

“I let ambition take over, and I’m truly sorry,” a tearful Vaughn Spencer, 71, told a federal judge in Philadelphia. “I lost my compass and for that, I have to pay the price.”

Spencer, the Democratic mayor of Reading from 2012 until his failed reelection bid in 2015, was also ordered to pay a $35,000 fine and to serve three years on supervised release after serving his sentence. He must report to prison June 13.

Prosecutors said Spencer promised engineering contracts to companies that agreed to provide campaign contributions and directed contracts to past donors to ensure they kept supporting his reelection efforts.