The former president of cancer-data company Impath has been sentenced to 3½ years in prison for his role in the company’s financial fraud, according to published reports.
Richard P. Adelson, who was convicted in February of conspiracy, securities fraud, and filing false statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, had faced the possibility of life in prison, according to Bloomberg.
Impath, which was the subject of an SEC investigation into accounting irregularities in 2003, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that September.
“I feel to some extent I am presiding here over a human tragedy,” said Judge Jed Rakoff, according to the Associated Press. In responding to the government’s request for a stiffer sentence, Judge Rakoff reportedly noted that Impath was much smaller than many companies involved in recent high-profile frauds and made reference to nearly 100 letters of support for Adelson.
The former executive also was fined $1.2 million and ordered to pay $50 million in restitution, though the judge reportedly acknowledged that Adelson would probably be able to pay only a small fraction of that amount.
“I have made some very serious mistakes and have failed miserably at my life’s goals,” a tearful Adelson said, according to the Associated Press. “I only blame myself and take full responsibility for that.” He remains free on $1 million bond, pending his appeal.