U.S. Pressures Waksal to Accept Prison Term

Prosecutors are threatening former ImClone Systems Inc. Chief Executive Samuel D. Waksal with an unusually lengthy jail sentence amid a broad move by the government to crack down on corporate wrongdoing.

Federal prosecutors are demanding that Waksal agree to seven to 10 years in prison as part of a plea bargain, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Waksal, who was arrested in June and charged with six counts of securities fraud, two counts of conspiracy and one count of perjury, is trying to negotiate an agreement under which his father and a daughter, who also are suspected of insider trading, would be protected from jail.

A spokesman for Waksal declined to comment.