Securities: Former Ahold Unit CFO Pleads Guilty

Michael Resnick, the ex-financial chief of U.S. Foodservice, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for his role in an accounting fraud in September and was sentenced on Monday. He will get three years of probation as punishment. Federal prosecutors say that Resnick and others manipulated entries in U.S. Foodservice's books in order to help the food distribution unit meet quarterly profit targets. Resnick made a tearful plea to U.S. Judge Thomas Griesa, saying that he "approved entries he should not have approved" and he "said yes when he should have said no."

Former Ahold Unit CFO Cops to Fraud Charges

Resnick's lawyer, Andrew Levander, asked for leniency; Resnick's mother committed suicide and Resnick cares for his wheelchair-bound father. "To put him in jail at this point would be unfair," said Levander. "It would destroy his family. This is a man who deserves a second chance."