Ex-Biopure VP Howard Richman gets 3 years for faking cancer

A former executive of Biopure Corp. has been sentenced to three years in prison for pretending he had terminal cancer to dodge a federal lawsuit filed by securities regulators.

Howard Richman, a former vice president at the Cambridge-based biotech company, pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge in March. He was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.

The 57-year-old Richman, of Pearland, Texas, admitted he had instructed his lawyers to tell a judge he was gravely ill with colon cancer.

Prosecutors said Richman fabricated the story in an attempt to wriggle out of a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and to avoid paying a large civil fine.

The SEC complaint accused Biopure, Richman and three other executives of misleading investors about the prospects of winning approval for a synthetic blood product.