Toronto theater impresario Garth Drabinsky is free on bail, pending an appeal, after being sentenced Aug. 5 to seven years in jail for his role in the 1998 downfall of Livent. Justice Mary Lou Benotto of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice also sentenced Livent co-founder Myron Gottlieb to six years in prison.

Both men sat impassively as Justice Benotto said they had defrauded Livent investors of up to $500 million between 1993 and 1998 by systematically cooking the company books.

Drabinsky received four years on one count of fraud and seven years on a second count, to be served concurrently. Gottlieb was handed four years on count one and six years on count two, also to run concurrently.

Both men were also convicted of forgery, but that ruling was stayed by the court on grounds its facts were the same as one of the fraud charges.

The law allows first-time, non-violent offenders to serve only one-sixth of their jail terms before they can secure parole. Should their appeals fail, Drabinsky is expected to eventually serve 14 months in jail, and Gottlieb one year.