The first criminal prosecution of the federal government's investigation into stock-options backdating—the practice of picking favorable dates in the past for the awarding of stock options—came to a dramatic conclusion today. Gregory Reyes, the former chief executive officer of Brocade Communications Systems, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and two years' probation by Judge Charles Breyer of the Federal District Court in San Francisco.

Breyer also imposed a $15 million fine but did not order Reyes to pay any restitution, thus making his sentence far more lenient than the penalties sought by prosecutors, who were pursuing a prison term of 30 to 33 months, a $41 million fine, and $90 million in restitution to Brocade.

The defense team asked for a sentence of no more than 13 months to be spent in either a halfway house or in home confinement. The defense noted that in an earlier ruling, Breyer had rejected all of the prosecution's theories that Reyes' violations of the law caused any loss to Brocade or its investors.

Reyes was convicted of 10 counts of securities fraud in August 2007. His lawyer, Richard Marmaro of New York's Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, has sought to win a new trial for his client. A recent motion argued that there was "new evidence" in the case because a key prosecution witness had "recanted." But Breyer rejected that motion on January 9, ruling that the witness "feels badly that she testified in a particular way" and concluding, "That's not new evidence."

"The judge went dead in the middle of the sentencing guidelines," said Peter J. Henning, a professor at Wayne State University Law School and author of the White Collar Crime Prof blog. "It's longer than I had expected, based on the judge's previous finding that he couldn't calculate a loss suffered from Reyes' conduct." Under the federal sentencing guidelines, Reyes was facing a term of 18 to 24 months because, as C.E.O., he was a "leader or organizer" of the violations. Apart from that role, he could have gotten off with probation.

"It certainly has to put some fear in the other defendants," Henning said. "They are facing jail time."

Other executives charged in backdating cases, like Gary Gerhardt and Steven Landmann of Engineered Support Systems, and Kent Roberts, the former general counsel of software giant McAfee, could face even longer sentences if they are convicted, Henning said, because they are accused of having profited from backdating.

Although Reyes is appealing his conviction, Henning said that it would be "virtually impossible" to challenge the 21-month sentence imposed by Breyer, who had the option, under a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, to deviate from the guidelines and impose a more lenient prison term.

Reyes appeared tearful during the sentencing, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The judge did agree with one prosecution point in enhancing Reyes' sentence. The former C.E.O. had signed a sworn affidavit last year in support of Stephanie Jensen, a colleague who was also charged in the case, when Jensen made a bid to sever the two trials. In his affidavit Reyes said that he had not backdated, and prosecutors argued that it constituted obstruction of justice. Breyer agreed, and Reyes was subsequently convicted on two counts.

More than 140 companies have been scrutinized since the government's investigation of backdating began in March 2006.

Reyes was released, and his sentence stayed, pending his appeal.