Convicted hedge fund fraudster Amit Mathur was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday, a year after he was found guilty of defrauding five investors of about $13 million.

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor in Worcestor, Mass., called Mathur “cold and callous” as he pronounced sentence, which could have been as much as 17 years. Prosecutors had argued for a longer sentence, noting that Mathur showed a “total lack of remorse.”

“He preyed upon people who were dear to him,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Capin said. “He preyed upon his uncle,” who lost the $530,000 he invested in Mathur’s Entrust Capital Management.

Saylor also rejected Mathur’s bid to have his conviction reversed in favor of a new trial. Mathur’s lawyers argued that their client’s biggest victim, Commerce Bank & Trust Chairman David Massad, was an unreliable witness who claimed to have lost almost $4 million more than prosecutors showed.

“It leaves us wondering—more than wondering—how reliable David Massad’s statements can be about any of this,” Vivian Shevitz told the court.

Saylor dismissed that argument, noting that the discrepancy stemmed from the fact that Massad got back about $3 million of his Entrust investment.

“What happened to the other $11 million?” Saylor asked. “Regardless of what he intended, he didn’t get his $11 million back.”

In addition to the 10 year sentence, Mathur was also given three years probation upon release.