One of U.S. President Barack Obama's top critics, Dinesh D' Souza, avoided jail time on Tuesday after a judge sentenced him to eight months in a community confinement center in San Diego following a guilty plea for for his campaign finance law violation.

D'Souza will be on a five-year probationary period and on its first eight months, he will be allowed to leave during office hours.

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In addition, the 53-year-old D'Souza was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman to teach English to new immigrants as his community service, pay a fine of US$30,000 and undergo weekly therapy.

During his interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News on Tuesday, D'Souza expressed his joy at avoiding prison time.

According to the conservative author and filmmaker, he's had a smile on his face "for several hours," adding that the entire ordeal was the prosecution's attempt at putting him out of business.

"The government was trying to lock me up for between 10 and 16 months, and a federal judge said no," he said.

In May, D'Souza admitted to committing a violation of the campaign finance law when he illegally reimbursed donations given to 2012 Republican candidate for governor in New York Wendy Long.

The Obama critic used his mistress to be a "straw donor" and donated a total of US$20,000 to Long's campaign and were reimbursed, in order to work around the maximum limit for contributions.

Prosecutors were pushing for a 16-month jail time for D'Souza, but the district court judge disagreed with the prison sentence.

D'Souza told Fox News that Berman's ruling affirmed his faith in the judiciary system.

Additionally, he said the stipulation that he can leave the confinement center during office hours means that he can continue his work and still function.

D'Souza said that he did not know what to expect in living at the center, but he concluded that by the time he leaves the place, "they're all going to be Republicans."

TagsObama, campaign, elections, politics, D'Souza