Milton Milan, whose bravado once boosted the hopes of a debt-ridden city, returns to the public eye today as he is sentenced for federal crimes of corruption and fraud.

The 38-year-old former mayor was convicted Dec. 21 of 14 counts including bribe-taking, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. He was immediately imprisoned and was stripped of his office the next day. Initially sent to a facility in Philadelphia, he has spent the last four months at the Federal Correctional Institution at Fairton, Cumberland County.

"He's OK, his spirits are fine," his federally appointed public defender, Richard Coughlin, said on the eve of Milan' s scheduled sentencing this morning in U.S. District Court. "He's looking forward to getting this over with."

The former mayor - who has been visited by his wife, Kathryn - has been kept separate until now from much of the population because he has not yet been sentenced, Coughlin said.

If Milan is ordered to remain at Fairton, he'll share a cell. Fairton is a medium-security institution used to house people detained without bail pending trial as well as those already sentenced. There is an adjacent minimum- security camp.

A draft pre-sentencing report recommended a prison term in the range of 46 to 57 months, which would put his maximum sentence at just under five years. He would receive credit for the time he has already spent in prison.

U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano could depart from the recommended range, but no documents had been filed by federal prosecutors or the public defender seeking either an upward or downward change.

Milan, who took office July 1, 1997, was convicted by a federal jury of taking payoffs and gifts from the mob and contractors doing business in the city or seeking city business, skimming campaign funds for his own personal use, committing insurance fraud, and trying to hide the source of a $65,000 loan from a drug kingpin. He was found to be on the take even before he became mayor, while he was still on the city council.

His sentencing comes at a time of continuing political turmoil in the impoverished city, with the state seeking to take control of city operations in a bid to turn around its finances and put an end to corruption. Milan is Camden's third mayor in 20 years to be convicted of graft.

Before today, Milan had made two return trips to the courthouse. First, he successfully sought to replace his trial attorney, Carlos A. Martir Jr. Then two months later, his public defender asked to have Milan released from prison for two months. The request was denied.

The jury that convicted Milan was unable to reach a verdict on three counts. As of Thursday, federal prosecutors had not said whether they would seek to have Milan tried on those charges, which dealt with one alleged $ 9,000 mob payoff and home improvements he received from a city vendor.

The prosecution depended heavily on the testimony of individuals who pleaded guilty to charges connected to wrongdoing with Milan, or had long-term relationships with him.

The lead witness was Ralph Natale, one-time head of organized crime in Philadelphia and South Jersey. He told the jury he had used an associate, Daniel Daidone, to slip cash to Milan, hoping the mayor would endorse mob- controlled companies for city contracts. No contracts to those companies were awarded during Milan's tenure as mayor.

If Milan serves out his term at Fairton, he will be with inmates of a similar age. The average age of the inmates is about 36, prison officials said. About half are drug offenders. An additional 16 percent have been convicted of arms, explosives or arson offenses, prison officials said.

Most of the prisoners, about 63 percent, are black. Whites account for 36 percent. Hispanics make up about 20 percent. (Some prisoners fit into multiple categories.)