BOSTON - The co-founder of a Massachusetts pharmacy has been sentenced to nine years in prison in a nationwide meningitis outbreak that killed 76 people and sickened hundreds more.

  

Barry Cadden was acquitted of second-degree murder charges under federal racketeering law but was convicted of conspiracy and fraud charges.

  

A judge sentenced Cadden on Monday after hearing statements from people who said he ruined their lives.

  

Cadden was charged in a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak that was traced to contaminated injections of medical steroids made by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham.

  

Prosecutors say Cadden ran the center in a dangerous way by skirting industry regulations on sterility in an effort to push production and make more money.

  

Prosecutors sought a 35-year prison sentence. Cadden's lawyer said he should get 2 1/2 to 3 years.