Livent Co-Founders Drabinsky and Gottlieb Sentenced to Prison in Canada

A Canadian judge sentenced former Broadway producers Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb to prison, according to the Associated Press. Drabinsky and Gottlieb, co-founders of the now defunct theater company Livent, were sentenced for seven years and six years in prison, respectively.

Both men were convicted of fraud and forgery earlier this year, when the same judge, Ontario Superior Court Justice Mary Lou Benotto, ruled that the executives defrauded investors and creditors by falsifying records in order to misrepresent the company's finances. Though they were found guilty of two counts of fraud and one count of forgery in March for their dealings with Livent, the judge stayed the forgery convictions against both men because the charges were the same as the second count of fraud. Both men pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

"The court has a duty to strongly denounce such conduct," Benotto said at the sentencing. “"No one gets to write his own rules.”

Livent was the company behind many Broadway productions in the 1990s, including Ragtime, Fosse and Kiss of the Spiderwoman. The company was also responsible for bringing such hits as The Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Showboat to Toronto.

After being accused of embezzling from Livent in 1998, Drabinsky fled to Canada and has been living there ever since. The U.S. Attorney's Office in New York City indicted Drabinsky and Gottlieb for fraud and conspiracy in 1999. Those charges are still pending.