In a case that strained relations between the United States and Turkey, a judge sentenced a Turkish banker on Wednesday to just over two and a half years in prison, ignoring recommendations that he spend decades behind bars for his role in helping Iran evade U.S. economic sanctions.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman ordered Mehmet Hakan Atilla to spend 32 months in prison, including 14 months he has already served after his arrest last year during a business trip to New York on behalf of his employer, Turkey’s state-run Halkbank. The sentence means Atilla can return to Turkey in about a year.