Updated

The founder of an investment firm that handled the National Basketball Players Association's investments and finances has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for a $3 million fraud.

Joseph Lombardo, of Gates Mills, Ohio, was sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan. He's the founder and former chief executive of Prim Capital Corp.

Lombardo pleaded guilty in November to mail fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. The crimes were related to his firm's work on $250 million of the union's assets from 2001 until 2013.

Lombardo was arrested in April 2013. Prosecutors said he created a fake contract with the basketball players who entrusted him to manage their union's assets. They say he then lied to a federal grand jury about his actions and told others to do the same.