A former Silicon Valley Bank vice president was sentenced to 15 months in prison for falsifying documents in connection with his sentencing for previous securities fraud convictions, according to an announcement Monday from federal prosecutors.

Silicon Valley Bank has local branches in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Santa Clara.

Mounir Gad, 36, of Los Gatos, pleaded guilty in October and acknowledged he submitted several falsified letters of reference in an effort to gain leniency from a federal judge, U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp said.

Prosecutors said Gad admitted submitting the reference letters when he was facing previous charges in November 2021 -- which he eventually pleaded guilty to -- involving securities fraud violations in connection with an insider trading scheme.

Gad used his falsified letters of reference to argue for leniency from the judge, who later learned from the purported author of one of the letters that she had not written the information in the letter.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila also ordered Gad to serve 36 months of supervised release and imposed a $10,000 fine and a $1,300 special assessment. The judge ordered Gad to surrender on or before May 24 to begin serving his prison term.