Former executive sentenced for backdating stock options

ST. LOUIS — A former Engineered Support Systems executive was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $4 million for backdating stock options.

The business' former chief financial officer, Gary Gerhardt, was sentenced Friday in federal court in St. Louis. The 63-year-old St. Charles man pleaded guilty in July to one count of falsifying records of a publicly traded company.

U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway's office said he and others were accused of backdating stock options from 1996 to 2002. Her office said Gerhardt made about $1.8 million of improper proceeds as a result.

Michael Shanahan Sr., who was the company's former CEO and a former owner of the St. Louis Blues hockey team, pleaded guilty in July to the same charge.