LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada-based homebuilder was sentenced Tuesday to 51 months in federal prison for siphoning money allocated for Navajo Nation housing projects in Arizona and New Mexico for personal gambling, jewelry and thoroughbred racehorse training expenses.

William Aubrey, 71, of Mesquite, protested during his sentencing in Las Vegas that over the years he built thousands of affordable houses for tribe members.

"I apologize for what I guess I caused," Aubrey told U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson.

But he accused the federal government and the Navajo Housing Authority of Window Rock, Ariz., of lying, and claimed that the federal jury that convicted him May 2 wasn't told all the facts during his two-week trial.