(Reuters) — A former McKinsey & Co. partner was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison for obstructing justice by destroying records related to advice the consulting firm gave Purdue Pharma on how to “turbocharge” sales of the opioid painkiller OxyContin.
Martin Elling, 60, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Ballou in Abingdon, Virginia, after his former employer agreed in December to pay $650 million to resolve related charges by the U.S. Department of Justice over its work for Purdue.
Prosecutors argued Elling deserved a year in prison after he pleaded guilty in January. His lawyers countered that any prison sentence would be “devastating” as it would bar him from ever entering his new home of Thailand.
The sentence was confirmed by a representative for Elling’s legal team, which said he is “extremely sorry” for his conduct.