New York, October 25
Disgraced Wall Street titan Rajat Gupta was today given a lighter sentence of two years in prison and slapped with a fine of $5 million by a US judge who termed the Indian-American’s insider trading crimes as “disgusting” and a “terrible breach of trust”.

Gupta, 63, was also ordered by US District Judge Jed Rakoff to serve a year of supervised release after the end of his prison term.

The IIT and Harvard-educated former Goldman Sachs director and philanthropist would have to surrender to a designated prison on January 8, 2013. Rakoff denied Gupta’s request to remain on bail while he appeals his case.

After the verdict, Gupta’s lawyer Gary Naftalis said: “We believe the facts of this case demonstrate that Gupta is innocent. We will vigorously appeal against the verdict.”

A court could have taken about two years to rule on Gupta’s appeal in America’s biggest insider trading case. While the judge agreed to a request from Gupta’s lawyers that he be assigned to New York’s prison in Otisville, the final decision rests with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.