Wichita ? A former police officer in southern Kansas who used a work computer to send nude pictures of himself to a woman he had arrested was sentenced Monday to two years of probation.

Calvin Schaffer, 44, was also ordered to pay a $500 fine after pleading guilty in September to federal wire fraud for defrauding the city of his honest services.

Federal guidelines called for a sentence of 18 to 24 months. U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown said, however, that the circumstances of the event and Schaffer’s history merited a lower sentence.

Prosecutors said Schaffer offered to try to get drunken driving charges dismissed for Angelique Mason of Wichita, whom he had arrested, in exchange for a sexual relationship. Mason and two private investigators secretly recorded a telephone call and a meeting between her and Schaffer.

The former officer told the judge he was truly sorry for what he had done, the hurt caused to his wife and family and the embarrassment caused to the whole law enforcement community.

Afterward, defense attorney Roger Falk said his client used poor judgment, but noted Schaffer sent his e-mail in response to an e-mail from Mason.

“I am not saying it is right, but it is a mitigating factor,” Falk said.

Schaffer worked as a police officer in Goddard from November 2007 until March 26, the day after the FBI interviewed him about his relationship with Mason.

Mason told the FBI she initially “played along” with Schaffer’s sexual innuendo while en route to jail after her arrest in hopes of getting help with her criminal case, court records show.

According to an FBI affidavit, Schaffer told agents during an interview that Mason had e-mailed him nude photos of herself before he ever sent her photos of himself. He showed the photos of her to the agents, who then seized his BlackBerry.

After hearing the audio of one of his conversations with Mason recorded at the hair salon where she worked, Schaffer admitted that he hoped to have a sexual relationship with her, the affidavit said. He reportedly said he wanted to give Mason the impression that he could help her with her case.

Although he acknowledged telling Mason he intentionally made mistakes while investigating her case, Schaffer told the FBI that his mistakes were actually unintentional. The mistakes included failing to report that she had prior arrests for drunken driving, the affidavit said.

It alleged that Schaffer had asked Goddard city prosecutors twice to dismiss the case against Mason, telling them the mistakes he made would embarrass him should the case be brought to trial.

It became a federal case because the e-mails and photos traveled through servers in California and Virginia.