A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc analyst has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for helping lead a far-flung insider trading ring involving tips about pending mergers and stolen copies of BusinessWeek magazine. Eugene Plotkin, 28, who had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and to insider trading charges, also was ordered to pay a $US10,000 ($A11,361) fine and forfeit $US6.7 million ($A7.6 million). He will serve four years and nine months in prison under the sentence handed down by US District Judge Richard Holwell in Manhattan. Federal prosecutors accused Plotkin and another former Goldman employee, David Pajcin, of trading off tips leaked by an ex-Merrill Lynch and Co Inc investment banking analyst and also from stolen advance copies of BusinessWeek that they obtained from printing plant workers.