Take-Two founder avoids jail

In February, former Take-Two CEO Ryan Brant pled guilty to first-degree felony charges of falsifying business records for his role in the publisher's stock-option backdating scandal. Today, Bloomberg is reporting that the ex-executive and founder of the company has been sentenced to five years of probation in the case, avoiding time in prison because he cooperated with prosecutors.

Brant left the company in October 2006, while Take-Two was the subject of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Three months later, Take-Two released the results of its independent investigation into the scandal and pinned the blame squarely on Brant.

The SEC found that from 1997 to 2003, Brant granted stock options to himself and other employees, and altered the records regarding when the options were granted in order to make them instantly profitable to the receiver. As part of his plea deal, Brant agreed to pay $6.3 million to settle the SEC's civil suit against him, and another $1 million to New York state and local authorities. According to Brant's lawyer, the former executive has paid $4.7 million of the $7.3 million total, with the balance due by October 15.