SAN DIEGO

Buford Wiley, former lawyer of madam Karen Wilkening, was sentenced Friday to 180 days in a work-furlough project for helping his client flee the country in 1987 while she faced prostitution charges.

Wiley, 46, was also ordered to repay $20,000 in expenses related to flying Wilkening back from the Philippines last May.

In addition, San Diego Superior Court Judge Andrew Wagner ordered Wiley to perform 250 hours of community service for Habitat for Humanity, a low-income housing program, by December, 1991, as part of his three years’ probation.

Wiley will be jailed weekday evenings and on weekends but will be allowed to go to his job at an electronics firm on weekdays.

Wiley’s attorney, Mike Lipman, said the state bar has inquired about Wiley’s conviction on the felony charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

“There’s an overwhelming possibility that Mr. Wiley will be disbarred,” Lipman told the judge.

Wilkening, 44, was sentenced Nov. 29 to three years and eight months in state prison for pandering.

Wiley appeared before then-Municipal Court Judge William Mudd in September, 1987, at Wilkening’s preliminary hearing and said that he did not know where his client was. He also said he had received a letter from Mexico saying that Wilkening fled because she felt threatened.

Lipman said Wiley was greatly embarrassed to be linked to the case and “suffered a monumental lapse in judgment” in helping Wilkening flee the country.