Ex-Brocade exec sentenced to 4 mos in options case

SAN FRANCISCO, March 19 (Reuters) - Brocade Communications Systems Inc's (BRCD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) former personnel director was sentenced on Wednesday to four months in prison for illegally backdating stock-options awards for employees.

Stephanie Jensen, 50, was also sentenced to one year of supervised release after serving her prison term and a fine of $1.25 million.

Jensen is the second person convicted by a jury of criminal charges related to manipulation of stock option grants in a widespread scandal that has led to billions of dollars in financial restatements and ensnared more than 200 U.S. companies in the past two years.

A jury in U.S. District Court in San Francisco convicted Jensen in December of one count of falsifying company books and one count of conspiracy. Brocade's former chief executive, Gregory Reyes, was sentenced in January to 21 months in prison after being convicted last August of 10 counts related to backdating. He is free pending an appeal. (Reporting by Philipp Gollner; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)