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RALEIGH (AP) — Former House Speaker Jim Black will have to spend at least another year or so behind bars after a judge said today that he must serve out a state sentence on a bribery count even if his federal sentence is reduced very soon.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens sentenced Black to between 11 and 14 months in state prison for a bribery charge. Black pleaded guilty to it in 2007. The sentencing was delayed until now because the Mecklenburg County Democrat was having trouble paying a $1.05 million fine for an obstruction of justice count for which he had also accepted responsibility.

Lawyers and friends of Black are trying to get his roughly five-year federal prison sentence on a corruption charge reduced because of Black's health problems and those of his wife.

Thursday's sentence runs simultaneously with the federal sentence. But Stephens said Black, who was not in court, would have to serve the remaining state time even if the feds release him before the state sentence is complete.

"If that occurs, I will not reduce this sentence," Stephens told attorneys in court. "He'll have to go to the governor to have it reduced."

The hearing wraps up the criminal prosecution of Black, who was once one of the state's most powerful politicians. He led the House for eight years as speaker.

Black pleaded guilty in February 2007 to a federal felony charge. He acknowledged taking thousands of dollars from chiropractors while pushing their agenda at the Legislature.

A week later, he entered an Alford plea to state charges of bribery and obstruction of justice. The Alford plea allowed Black to acknowledge that the state's evidence could result in his conviction without having to admit any guilt.

State prosecutors accused Black of giving former state Rep. Michael Decker, R-Forsyth, as much as $58,000 in cash and campaign contributions to switch parties in 2003, a move that helped Black remain co-speaker. Black repeatedly denied that he bribed Decker.

Stephens had threatened 23 additional months in prison on the bribery charge, to be served after the federal sentence is complete in early 2012, if Black didn't pay the fine on time.

Stephens granted two extensions. Black paid $500,000 in June 2008 and this spring gave two parcels of land to the Wake County schools for the remainder. State law requires fine proceeds to go to local school districts.

Stephens reduced the prison length due to mitigating factors. Black is 74 years old and has health problems. His wife Betty has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, according to Whit Powell, Black's attorney.

Powell said he was disappointed with the prison sentence Stephens imposed. The judge had leeway to sentence Black to intensive probation.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons moved Black last week from a Pennsylvania prison to one in Georgia, which is closer to his family. Powell said he spoke to Black recently.

"He's a 74-year-old man who's been in federal prison for two years. His wife is dying," Powell said. "So you can imagine what sort of condition he's in."

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby was satisfied with the sentence.

The judge railed against some critics — including Wake County school board member — who questioned publicly whether two parcels of land given to the schools fulfilled the fine. The acreage had a tax value of about $150,000 in 2003 but had risen to above $600,000 this spring, according to media reports.

Stephens, who was satisfied the penalty had been fulfilled, said it was his decision to threaten Black with more prison time if he didn't pay the fine. Had Stephens ordered a $1 million fine with no strings attached, state law would have allowed Black to avoid the payment by spending an extra 30 days behind bars.

The school board, meanwhile, is getting an "outright gift" that has been collected by the courts, the judge said before scolding a school board attorney summoned to court.

"Criticism from those receiving the gift really kind of puts a chilling effect on judges and the court system working very hard for their benefit," Stephens said. "In my 25 years on the bench, I have never seen anything quite like that. It makes no sense."