Former Miami assistant fire chief Veldora Arthur was sentenced Friday to four years and nine months in prison for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme -- an enhanced punishment because of evidence of obstruction of justice. She must also serve three years of probation.

Assistant U.S. attorney Armando Rosquete had asked for a longer sentence because of evidence Arthur had lied under oath and contacted a witness before trial.

Attorney Bruce Lehr, hired by Arthur after she was convicted in September, denied that obstruction of justice had occurred and asked for a shorter sentence to avoid negatively impacting her two children.

As she explained her decision, U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz spoke admiringly of Arthur’s background as the first black female firefighter in the City of Miami, where she started 25 years ago. However, she said public servants should know they’re subject to more scrutiny than the general public and should behave with honesty and integrity.

“It is a public servant’s responsibility to conduct themselves, particularly on the job, in a manner that reflects the integrity of Caesar’s wife,” Seitz said.

Arthur, one of the city’s highest-paid employees, received an annual salary of about $184,000 and a deferred pension of nearly $167,000. She and four others were indicted in February in a conspiracy to use fraudulent information to purchase luxury condos in Aventura in 2006. Arthur received about $317,000 in exchange for using her personal information to purchase and refinance two properties.

During the trial, Arthur, a licensed mortgage broker, claimed she didn’t know how mortgages worked and had been duped into participating in the scheme. She said she thought the money was a return on an investment, even though she had not put down any of her own money.

But Rosquete reminded the court that Arthur passed a state mortgage broker exam with a score of 86 percent just months before the transactions took place.

“The defendant remained committed to the utterly bizarre testimony that the mortgage broker exam and the course she took previously had left her more confused than before [about the issue],” he said.

Rosquete also pointed to evidence that Arthur had participated in a similar scheme with a Coral Gables property that she denied knowing about, although bank records indicated she also profited off that deal. Another document showed that Arthur had violated the conditions of her bail and attempted to influence a witness by emailing the witness a copy of a lie detector test and claiming her innocence.

On Friday, Arthur asked the judge to consider a lesser sentence because of her two children, ages 15 and 23.

“I’d like to apologize for my mistakes in judgment,” she said. “As a result, this ordeal has put my family through a lot of stress ... My children have suffered greatly.”

Both her son and daughter spoke on her behalf, saying that she was a good mother and role model. Her son is following in Arthur’s footsteps and is studying to be a paramedic. He said that the media attention on his mother’s case has been especially tough, because his classmates refer to her as the woman “who brought down the fire service.”

Seitz recommended that Arthur be imprisoned in South Florida to remain close to her children. Arthur has two weeks to appeal the case.