Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam was sentenced Thursday in Manhattan federal court. He also was fined $10 million.
Judge Richard Holwell announced the sentence after concluding that Rajaratnam made well over $50 million in profits from his illegal trades.
The prosecution had placed Rajaratnam's profits from illegal trades between $70 million and $75 million.
The sentencing culminates a series of convictions and sentencings in what prosecutors called the largest hedge fund insider trading case in U.S. history.
Lawyers for Rajaratnam, a Sri Lanka native, had asked for leniency, citing his failing health. They said a lengthy prison term would amount to a death sentence.
