Rajat Gupta, the highest-ranking executive convicted in a wide-ranging US crackdown on insider trading, was sentenced to two years in prison and fined $5m, in a sharp fall from grace for the former head of the McKinsey consultancy group. Prosecutors had requested a term of at least eight years in prison for Gupta. Judge Jed Rakoff said he wrestled with the 63-year-old's "extraordinary attributes" and his "disgusting" conduct before handing down the sentence. "Insider trading is an easy crime to commit but a difficult crime to catch," the judge said. Others must understand "that when you get caught, you will go to jail." Gupta was convicted in June of passing confidential information he learnt while serving on the Goldman Sachs board to his friend, Raj Rajaratnam, co-founder of Galleon Group. The secrets included details of a $5bn infusion from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Gupta was acquitted of sharing confidential information he learnt while serving as a Procter & Gamble director. Gupta, who is appealing, did not admit any wrongdoing, saying instead he "had come to accept the reality of my life going forward." Gupta's attorneys had pleaded for a sentence of community service to be served in either Rwanda or New York. Mr Rakoff said given Gupta's history, community service "would totally fail" to send a message. "While no defendant should be made a martyr to public passion, meaningful punishment is still necessary to reaffirm society's deep-seated need to see justice triumphant," he said. Gupta's lawyers said afterwards that he "maintains his innocence." Gupta retired as chairman of McKinsey in 2003 and stayed on in an emeritus role until 2007. He became embroiled in insider trading during the next phase of his life as he pursued investments and joined with Rajaratnam. Rajaratnam, who was convicted of insider trading last year, is serving an 11-year sentence at a medical prison facility in Massachusetts.