A former executive for a drug company was sentenced Monday to 33 months in federal prison in a bribery and kickbacks scheme that Massachusetts prosecutors say helped fuel the national opioid epidemic.

Michael Gurry, a former vice president at Insys Therapeutics, was also sentenced to three months of probation and ordered to forfeit about $3.6 million and pay restitution, which will be determined later.

The 56-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona, resident is the first of seven former leaders at the Arizona-based company being sentenced this month in Boston federal court.

Prosecutors say Insys Therapeutics employees paid millions of dollars in bribes to doctors nationwide to overprescribe Subsys, a powerful, addictive fentanyl-based painkiller for cancer patients.

Prosecutors had sought 11 years in prison for Gurry, arguing he was instrumental in the company�s scheme, even if he didn�t actively engage in bribery.

They said Gurry, as head of the company�s reimbursement center, came up with strategies to mislead insurers so that they�d cover the costs of the medication that could approach $19,000 a month.

Prosecutors said Gurry authorized workers to use a set of talking points meant to convince insurers that Subsys had been prescribed to the patient for cancer pain.

Gurry�s lawyers had argued for less than a year in prison, noting he�d served with distinction in the military.

In court, Gurry apologized to people who had become addicted to Subsys and suggested he wasn�t aware it was being overprescribed or abused.

Three victims spoke in court Monday about how they�d been prescribed the drug even though they didn�t have cancer and detailed how their lives were ruined by addiction.

Gurry�s lawyers said they�ll appeal the sentence.

(AP)