Former state Rep. Jeff Habay reported to jail yesterday to begin his sentence for using staffers to do campaign work on state time and for lying about having received an anthrax threat from a political opponent.

Sheriff's deputies said Mr. Habay, 42, checked in around 8:55 a.m. at the bullpen for prisoners at the county Courthouse. He then was taken to the Allegheny County Jail for processing.

Mr. Habay, of Shaler, has four months remaining on his concurrent sentences, which have been delayed by a lengthy appeals process.

But the two judges who imposed the sentences disagreed on where they should be served.

On July 16, Judge Lester G. Nauhaus ordered Mr. Habay to go to jail, starting today, to serve out the sentence.

Last week, Judge Jeffrey A. Manning ruled Mr. Habay could complete his sentence in a halfway house or under house arrest if Judge Nauhaus would agree.

Judge Nauhaus did not hear new motions from Mr. Habay and is out of town this week. He is scheduled to return Aug. 11, and until then Mr. Habay will remain in jail.

Mr. Habay's lawyer, Patrick Thomassey, said he would file a motion to get Mr. Habay moved from the jail to a halfway house.

Mr. Habay was convicted in 2005 on charges of forcing his legislative staff to do campaign work on state time and was sentenced to six to 12 months in jail by Judge Manning.

Lsat year he pleaded no contest to charges of giving false statements to police in which he claimed a political opponent had mailed him anthrax. Judge Nauhaus sentenced the former lawmaker to four to eight months in jail in that case. The term was to run concurrent to the previous sentence.

Mr. Habay spent about a week in jail in 2006 before a spot opened up for him in a halfway house, where he spent about two months.

He was under house arrest with an electronic monitoring device for nearly two years during his appeal process.

The state Supreme Court on July 2 declined to hear his appeal of the 2005 conviction.