On Thursday, the former CEO of Computer Associates International Inc., Sanjay Kumar, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and was fined $8 million for his participation in a massive accounting fraud scandal.

Kumar, 44, after pleading guilty in April to obstruction of justice and securities fraud charges, had faced up to 20 years behind bars. The company has been renamed CA Inc.

Kumar could have faced life in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, but the judge called that punishment unreasonable. Noting that Kumar was not a violent individual, U.S. District Judge Leo Glasser said Kumar "did violence to the legitimate expectations of shareholders."

Prosecutor Eric Komitee said Kumar was "the most brazen in the modern era of corporate crime" and he deserved severe punishment as the architect of an elaborate coverup.

Kumar, who is also a co-owner of the New York Islanders hockey team, told the judge at his sentencing," I know that I was wrong and there was no excuse for my conduct." The defense had urged the judge to give Kumar a short prison term followed by lengthy community service.

Said attorney John Cooney, "I hope the court will not lose sight of the good he did for that company," Decribed as one of the "great minds" of the software industry by his attorneys, Kumar is credited for turning Computer Associates into a thriving enterprise.

According to a 2004 indictment, Kumar flew on a corporate jet to Paris in July 1999 to finalize a $19 million deal and signed a backdated contract. The indictment also charged that Kumar along with other executives, instructed salespeople to complete deals after the quarter closing, an industry practice known as the "35-day month" - and "cleaned up" contracts by removing time stamps from faxes.

In 2002, after the FBI began investigating the company, Kumar orchestrated a cover-up that involved lying under oath and trying to buy the silence of a potential witness, authorities said.

CA Inc. is now the world's fifth-largest software provider with 15,000 employees worldwide.

Kumar was ordered to surrender on Feb. 27.