Federal prosecutors have sought between eight to 10 years in jail for Indian-American former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta for his "shocking" insider trading crimes even as he pleaded to be spared a prison term and offered to perform community service.

Prosecutors and Gupta's defence team each submitted their sentencing memorandum in US District Court here yesterday, a week before US District Judge Jed Rakoff sentences Gupta on insider trading charges.

In a 12-page memorandum, Manhattan's top federal attorney Preet Bharara said a "sentence within the applicable guidelines range of 97 to 121 months imprisonment is appropriate" for Gupta, who repeatedly flouted the law and abused his position of trust and in his "callousness and above-the-law arrogance" committed crimes which were "extraordinarily serious and damaging to the capital markets".

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