Davis also ordered him to pay $413,000 in back taxes.
Street, who lives in Moorestown, showed no emotion as the sentence was announced. He remained stoic as he was cuffed and led from the courtroom after turning over his watch, tie and other personal items to his visibly shaken wife, Theresa.
Moments earlier, Street had asked Davis to allow him to perform community service in lieu of a prison sentence.
"I submit to you, your honor, even though I may deserve to go to jail . . . I can do so much more by serving 10,000 hours of community service," Street told the judge. "I ask you for mercy."
The sentence was near the maximum three years sought by federal prosecutors, who had argued that such a term would deter others from similar crimes.
"Tax cheats must be put on notice that there are severe penalties, including years in prison," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams told Davis.
The former Democratic state representative and senator had been found guilty in February of three misdemeanor counts of failing to file federal tax returns, but acquitted of fraud charges in an alleged scheme to sell an airport-maintenance contract.
"I am a good man, your honor," said Street, who said he had always tried to work on behalf of the poor and people facing other struggles.
Davis agreed that Street had done many good things, but concluded that he had "squandered" the trust his one-time constituents had placed in him.
"It's a violation of the trust of those people for you to so foolishly throw yourself off the cliff," said Davis, who said that Street had had opportunities to "do some really really good things" but had been sidetracked by the "ridiculous amounts of money" people were paying him.
Referring to Street's testimony during trial that he wanted to take advantage of his brother's term as mayor to get consulting contracts, the judge said those days should be over in Philadelphia.
