ATLANTA - An ex-convict who conspired to steal Coca-Cola trade secrets with the aim of selling them to Pepsi was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison.

U.S. District Judge J. Owen Forrester gave Edmund Duhaney a shorter sentence than the 37 to 46 months recommended by federal sentencing guidelines because he pleaded guilty and helped the government convict a former Coca-Cola secretary who played a key role in the scheme.

Mr. Duhaney, 43, was expected to receive credit for the 11 months he has already served in custody since his arrest in July, according to his attorney.

"I am before you today wholeheartedly remorseful," Mr. Duhaney told the judge before he was sentenced.

He said the scheme was a mistake.

"This should have died where it started, a mere fantasy," Mr. Duhaney said.

Judge Forrester's decision to give Mr. Duhaney a break followed a prosecutor's request Friday to give him a lighter sentence than federal guidelines recommended.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Byung J. Pak said in a court filing that because Mr. Duhaney pleaded guilty and testified against Joya Williams at her trial, he deserved about a year shaved off his sentence.

"Having people that are willing to do what you did in this case is very important," Judge Forrester told Mr. Duhaney.

Mr. Duhaney was also ordered to pay $40,000 restitution, serve three years on supervised probation after being released from prison and perform 40 hours of community service.

Before his involvement in the Coke case, Mr. Duhaney served nearly five years of a seven-year sentence in federal prison on a cocaine charge. He was released in 2005.