The former head of worldwide sales at Computer Associates has been sentenced to seven years in jail after pleading guilty to financial fraud charges in April.U.S. District Court Judge I. Leo Glasser sentenced Stephen Richards, 41, Tuesday at federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., to 84 months in prison followed by three years’ supervised release.The former CA executive got off comparatively lightly. Richards could have faced 100 years in prison, according to a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York.Richards and Sanjay Kumar, the former chief executive officer of Computer Associates, both pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges, including falsely reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue before licensing agreements were finalized to beef up quarterly financial results. Earlier this month, Glasser sentenced Kumar to 12 years in prison and a US$8 million fine.Richards is due to report to prison Feb. 27, 2007, and is free on bail until that time. Still to be determined in relation to both Richards and Kumar is the matter of restitution to victims of the fraud, according to the spokesman at the U.S. attorney’s office. Glasser is expected to decide the restitution amount around Feb. 27, the spokesman added.The spokesman declined to comment on whether the U.S. attorney’s office has concluded its investigations into Computer Associates, which changed its name to CA last year.CA has tried to shake off its troubled past. The company reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. government in September 2004, requiring CA to pay $225 million to a restitution fund to compensate victims of the fraud, those who bought or transacted Computer Associates stock from Jan. 20, 1998, through Feb. 25, 2002.In September, CA announced an agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to extend the term of Lee Richards as an independent examiner overseeing CA’s financial reporting until May 1, 2007.CA has paid into the restitution fund, and its distribution is being finalized, CA Chairman Lewis Ranieri said in September.“Yesterday’s sentencing is another step in putting the past of Computer Associates further behind the new CA,” wrote CA spokeswoman Jennifer Hallahan in an e-mail request for comment. CA is a “dramatically different organization” than it was more than two years ago when Richards left the company, she added. CA has made “significant progress” in putting in place an infrastructure designed to promote “integrity, compliance and good governance,” Hallahan wrote. “CA is also actively working to obtain any ‘ill-gotten gains’ from former executives,” she added.-China Martens, IDG News Service (Boston Bureau)Related Link: Former CA CEO Kumar Gets 12 Years in PrisonCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by G42 Understanding the impact of AI on society, environment and economy By Jane Chan Dec 03, 2023 4 mins Artificial Intelligence opinion Website spoofing: risks, threats, and mitigation strategies for CIOs In this article, we take a look at how CIOs can tackle website spoofing attacks and the best ways to prevent them. By Yash Mehta Dec 01, 2023 5 mins CIO Cyberattacks Security brandpost Sponsored by Catchpoint Systems Inc. Gain full visibility across the Internet Stack with IPM (Internet Performance Monitoring) Today’s IT systems have more points of failure than ever before. Internet Performance Monitoring provides visibility over external networks and services to mitigate outages. By Neal Weinberg Dec 01, 2023 3 mins IT Operations brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers can save money during periods of economic uncertainty Now is the time to overcome the challenges of perimeter-based architectures and reduce costs with zero trust. By Zscaler Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe