NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Ex-Safety-Kleen Corporation chief financial officer Paul Humphreys was sentenced to almost six years in prison for overstating earnings at the waste management company by $267 million, helping drive it into bankruptcy.

Humphreys, a Canadian citizen, pleaded guilty in June to federal charges that he led the scheme to artificially boost earnings in 1999 and 2000 to meet Wall Street estimates. Investors say they lost more than $250 million.

"I am ready to accept the sentence of the court and deal with the consequences of my actions," Humphreys told US District Judge Laura Taylor Swain at his sentencing hearing in New York federal court. "I know what I did was wrong."

Humphreys, 48, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for conspiracy, securities fraud and bank fraud. A resident of Alberta, he faced up to 87 months in prison under federal guidelines. Swain didn't impose a fine or order restitution because investors previously won a $190 million judgment against Humphreys, who must report to prison January 18.

Safety-Kleen, once the fourth-largest US waste-disposal firm, filed for bankruptcy in 2000. The company was formed when Laidlaw Environmental Services, a spinoff of Laidlaw, acquired Safety-Kleen in May 1998 and adopted the Safety-Kleen name. Based in Plano, Texas, the firm is privately held.

"This involved an enormous breach of trust," Swain told Humphreys at the hearing.