DAYTONA BEACH – What’s the ultimate price for illegally funneling $1,500 in campaign contributions in a city election?

It will cost strip-club manager Sean Bishop his freedom.

Bishop, manager of Lollipops Gentlemen’s Club in Daytona Beach, was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail for the three $500 checks, written by others but reimbursed by him in cash. With time off for good behavior, he may serve five months.

Many people wrote letters to convince Chief Circuit Judge J. David Walsh of Bishop’s good character, of his charitable work, generosity for friends and care of his family, and that he doesn’t deserve jail time.

Walsh said few defendants have had so much support.

“Clearly, Mr. Bishop is a man of good nature,” the judge said. “But it troubles me he went to these lengths to violate the campaign-finance law.”

A Volusia jury found Bishop guilty of violating the campaign law for the checks to candidate Paul Zimmerman and City Commissioner Shiela McKay-Vaughan during the 2005 election.

Other people wrote the checks, but Bishop had reimbursed them with cash, violating the law that requires the contributions to be traceable to its source.

Wednesday’s hearing brought up the question of whether Lollipops, which had been embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with Daytona Beach over nudity rules, tried to influence the elections.

Zimmerman testified Wednesday that he and McKay-Vaughan reported offers of large amounts of campaign contributions to the State Attorney’s Office, which started an investigation.

During conversations with political consultant Bob Lewis, Zimmerman was told the money would come from the strip clubs, but the checks would be from individuals.

Before he was sentenced, Bishop apologized to the court for wasting its time.

“As the state showed, it’s a case against Lollipops,” Bishop said. “I had no idea what was going on, how it would grow into this.”

More than three dozen people came to support Bishop, and many wrote letters extolling his generosity and his kind and caring nature. Even Angela Bernal, a judicial assistant to Circuit Judge James Clayton, said her longtime friend didn’t deserve jail time.

Assistant State Attorney Dennis Craig pressed for incarceration, arguing that the key issue was an attempt to thwart the election.

“We’re dealing with whether or not we can have a fair election in Daytona Beach, Florida, and how that election was corrupted,” Craig said.

The judge agreed: “You would have to be living under a rock to not have known a lot of things were going on during that election.”

Bishop began his jail term immediately, after the judge refused to allow him out on bond while an appeal is pending. The sentence also includes three years of probation and nearly $12,000 in court and investigative costs.