Mohamed Ahmed Omer, 52, was the first person in Victoria to be charged with the commonwealth offence of exit-trafficking and faced a County Court jury trial where he was found guilty in April.
He took his wife and two young children, aged six-months and two, back to Sudan under the guise of a holiday in 2014.
Unbeknownst to his wife, Omer changed the family's flight tickets home and withdrew support for her Australian visa, which was then cancelled.
He left Sudan to return to Australia with the two kids, without telling his wife, and took with him her passport and other identity documents.
She eventually made it home to Australia after 16 months separated from her children, but Omer continued to keep her children from her when she returned.
Prosecutors argued Omer's "callous behaviour", which included coercive control of his wife, should be punished with a prison term.
But Omer's lawyers pushed for a good behaviour bond with some time to serve in prison, as his exit-trafficking did not involve threats of violence and he had led an "otherwise blameless life".
Judge Frank Gucciardo found Omer had devised a scheme to "get rid" of his wife amid a pattern of physical, emotional and economic abuse against her.
"You treated her effectively as a chattel which could simply be discarded at your will," he told Omer on Tuesday.
He jailed Omer, who has been in custody for more than six months, for up to four years and six months.
Omer, who must serve at least three years and three months before he is eligible for parole, gave a thumbs up to his defence lawyer as he was sentenced.
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