NEW YORK, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Ozy Media founder Carlos

Watson was sentenced on Monday to nearly 10 years in prison,

after a jury found him guilty in July of lying to investors

about the now-defunct startup's finances and sham deals with

Google and Oprah Winfrey.

U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee handed down the 116-month

sentence at a hearing in Brooklyn federal court.

Federal prosecutors said Watson and his California-based

news and entertainment company falsified information about Ozy's

finances and audience size, fabricated contracts and inflated

earnings projections to court investors.

"Watson chose deceit over candor, grasping for the illusion

of business success and personal acclaim at any cost," Breon

Peace, the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, said in a statement.

Watson, a former cable news anchor and investment banker,

had pleaded not guilty. His lawyer had told jurors at the trial

that he was betrayed by deputies who acted on their own and kept

him in the dark about their wrongdoing.

Prosecutors had sought a 17-year prison term for Watson,

arguing he "directed a years-long brazen and audacious scheme to

defraud investors and lenders" and had not accepted

responsibility.

Watson's defense lawyers had urged Komitee to spare him

prison time beyond the mandatory two-year term for identity

theft, arguing he was innocent and that the case should not have

been brought.

Watson's lawyer Andrew Frisch said during Monday's hearing

that Watson's genuine commitment to Ozy's mission set him apart

from typical fraud defendants motivated by greed.

"What distinguishes Mr. Watson is his motivation and his

vision," Frisch said.

Founded in 2013, Ozy imploded in 2021 after news reports

questioned its audience numbers and revealed that a top

executive had impersonated a YouTube executive during a call

with Goldman Sachs ( GS ) bankers in which he claimed the

streaming site agreed to pay for exclusive rights to an Ozy

show.