A Manhattan judge Wednesday blasted a criminal defense lawyer and paralegal as “greedy” as he gave the duo three to nine years in prison for bribing a court staffer to steer wealthy clients their way.

But attorney Benjamin Yu, 37, and legal assistant Jose Nunez, 49, did not have to give up their freedom just yet. They remain free pending appeal.

“Mr. Yu, it’s only so much worse your conduct since you are such a talented lawyer,” said Justice James Burke in Manhattan Supreme Court.

He told Yu that he could have made something of himself had he used his skills “to help people instead of being so incredibly self-serving and greedy.”

Burke gave Nunez a similar tongue-lashing, calling him “greedy” and describing his conduct as “brilliant scheming to make money by corrupt means.”

He then handed down the maximum sentence.

Back in May, a jury found the two men guilty of more than a dozen counts of bribery, conspiracy and rewarding official misconduct.

Prosecutor Samuel Levy argued that the defendants undermined the judicial process by paying a New York Criminal Justice Agency employee more than $30,000 to refer them well-heeled clients.

Yu’s lawyer Patrick Brackley and Nunez’s attorney Robert Briere countered that the people’s case was built “on a false premise” that the CJA employee is a public servant.

CJA is a private not-for-profit corporation that has a contract with the city, therefore, the men could not be guilty of bribery, the attorneys said.