SCRANTON — Robert Mellow, a former leader of Pennsylvania’s Senate Democrats, was sentenced Friday to 16 months in prison on public corruption charges.

U.S. District Judge Joel Slomsky ordered Mellow, who pleaded guilty in May to a federal conspiracy charge, to pay nearly $80,000 in restitution to the state Senate, along with a $40,000 fine to the federal government.

Mellow was charged with tapping Senate staff for political fundraising and campaign work in violation of state law.

At Mellow’s direction, staffers planned and ran picnic and golf fundraisers for his campaign committee, ran a “campaign school” for Democratic candidates, and did other political work while being paid by the Senate, and thus by state taxpayers.

Slomsky also ordered Mellow, once a powerful figure in state government, to spend three years on supervised release after his prison sentence.