WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- The "inside man" in a betting scam that attempted to pull off a $3 million payoff in the Breeders' Cup received a year and a day, the least amount of jail time of the three fraternity brothers in sentencing Thursday.

Computer expert Chris Harn was sentenced after his co-defendants Greg DaSilva and Derrick Davis. DaSilva, of New York, was sentenced to two years in prison, and Davis, of Baltimore, received 37 months.

Federal Judge Charles Brieant said Harn, of Newark, Del., could have received 70-to-87 months if he had not helped authorities.

Prosecutor Stanley Okula said authorities could have made the case without Harn, but he "assisted us a great deal in bringing it to a conclusion much sooner."

"I realize I've hurt a great number of people," Harn said during sentencing. "Forgiveness is earned, not granted, and I hope to pay my debt to society not with words but with my future actions."

The three men, all 29, have been out on bail since pleading guilty, and were ordered to surrender May 1. They were members of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at Drexel University in Philadelphia in the 1990s.

Harn and DaSilva pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering.

DaSilva did not admit knowledge of the plan to manipulate computerized Breeders' Cup bets, but said he and Harn used the same method on two earlier bets that netted DaSilva $108,000.

Money laundering was charged because DaSilva split his winnings with Harn by converting some of the cash to checks made out to Harn's creditors.

Brieant noted DaSilva was "not the main thinker" and ordered him to undergo drug treatment.

"I'm very sorry for having gotten involved in all this," DaSilva said.

Davis' lawyer argued that his client, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, had a minor role in the scheme. But Brieant rejected the argument, noting Davis' telephone betting account was used for the illicit Breeders' Cup bets in October.

In addition to the 37 months in prison, Davis was ordered to pay $15,000 to Philadelphia Park in Pennsylvania for a scam that involved printing duplicates of winning tickets that Harn detected had not been cashed.

David said he and Harn each made $11,000 on that scheme.

"I know I've done something extremely wrong. ... I'd just like to throw myself at your mercy," Davis said during sentencing.

The sentencing freed up the prize money, which will eventually go to the holders of 78 tickets who picked five of six winners in the Breeders' Cup. Those tickets originally paid $4,606 each, but will be worth about $44,000.

When the three men were charged, racing officials rushed to reassure bettors that horseplaying was on the up-and-up. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association hired a consulting firm headed by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, which concluded that the frat brothers' scam appeared to be an isolated event.

In the betting scam, Harn took advantage of his position at Autotote, the company that processes most of the nation's computerized horse race betting.

He discovered he could alter a bet on several races -- like a Pick Six bet on six consecutive races -- before all the races were run.

When Harn approached Davis about profiting from the loophole, Davis agreed and set up an off-track betting account for Harn to use. On Oct. 26, the day the Breeders' Cup races were run at the Arlington racetrack near Chicago, Harn placed bets using Davis' account. After the first four races were run, Harn manipulated the computer system to give Davis all four winners, then bet on every horse in the remaining races to guarantee a winning bet.

Because several long shots were among the winners, the payoff was substantial and immediately raised suspicions about the unusual bet. The money was never paid out.

The Giuliani report said the companies that process more than $15 billion in horse race bets each year have installed software intended to prevent the use of a computer to change an existing bet.