Former state Rep. Jeff Habay will serve the remaining four months of his corruption sentences in a halfway house or under house arrest, instead of reporting to jail, Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey A. Manning ruled today.

Mr. Habay, 42, of Shaler, was convicted in separate corruption cases by Judge Manning and Judge Lester G. Nauhaus, with their sentences running concurrently.

Judge Nauhaus sentenced him to four to eight months in jail after Mr. Habay's December 2006 conviction for his false claim that he had received anthrax in the mail from a political opponent.

In a 2005 conviction on charges that included intimidation and harassment of witnesses who gave information to authorities about his use of state employees in his office for campaign work, Mr. Habay was sentenced by Judge Manning to six to 12 months in jail.

Mr. Habay served two months of his sentence in a halfway house but was confined to house arrest with electronic monitoring during his appeals, time that did not count against his sentence. The state Supreme Court on July 2 denied Mr. Habay's false claim conviction, and Mr. Habay was scheduled to report to jail Aug. 1.

But Judge Manning today said that there has been appropriate retribution for Mr. Habay's crimes, considering the loss of his office, his pension and the respect of the public, and he did not deserve to go to jail as well.

Judge Manning ordered Mr. Habay to report to the halfway house Aug. 1, but said if Judge Nauhaus is agreeable -- no date has been set for the case to return to that courtroom -- Mr. Habay could serve out his sentence under house arrest.