Ex-General Re executive is sentenced

Robert Graham, 61, of Westport, will also have to serve two years of supervised release and pay a $100,000 fine. He had faced up to life in prison and a fine of up to $46 million.

Graham, who was senior vice president and assistant general counsel at Stamford-based General Re from 1986 to 2005, will remain free pending his appeal. His lawyer, Alan Vinegrad, had sought a period of home confinement and community service.

"I realize there are no do-overs in life," Graham told US District Judge Christopher Droney in Hartford. "Nothing I can say or do now can change what has happened or its impact on the lives of others or on me. Your honor, I regret that more than words can adequately express."

Graham, one of several former executives charged in the case, said he was proud of having developed a reputation for honesty and integrity during his three decades as an attorney.

"That's all gone now," he said. "Instead of my career and reputation as a lawyer serving as a good example to others, as a disgraced and disbarred lawyer they will now serve only as a cautionary tale."

Federal prosecutors say New York-based AIG paid Stamford-based Gen Re in a secret deal to take out reinsurance policies with AIG in 2000 and 2001. They say the scheme propped up AIG's stock prices and inflated reserves by $500 million.