SAN
FRANCISCO — The former human resources chief at Brocade was sentenced
Wednesday to spend two months in prison and pay a fine of $1.25 million
for her part in a stock options backdating scandal that dates to the
early part of last decade.
Sobbing as she spoke, Stephanie Jensen
told a federal judge that she would take responsibility for her
actions. But she also said she had been "too trusting," apparently
referring to her long-standing argument that she didn't realize she was
doing wrong when she falsified documents relating to stock options that
the San Jose networking company granted employees.
A federal jury
concluded otherwise when it found Jensen, 52, guilty two years ago of
conspiracy and falsifying corporate records. Her sentence means Jensen
will be the first Silicon Valley executive to spend time in prison for
charges stemming from the backdating scandal that rocked dozens of
local tech companies more than five years ago.
Jensen's boss,
former Brocade CEO Greg Reyes, was previously sentenced to 21 months in
prison after fighting a high-profile battle against related charges,
but his conviction was overturned by a federal appellate court and he
faces a new trial this spring. Federal authorities have won backdating
convictions and prison sentences for executives in other parts of the
country, although one of their most prominent cases — involving the
Southern California tech company Broadcom —collapsed late