The former chief executive of the New York City drugstore chain Duane Reade Inc. has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Anthony Cuti of Saddle River, N.J., was also ordered Monday by federal Judge Deborah Batts to pay a $5 million fine. He must report to prison in January to begin serving his sentence.

The judge described him as gifted but arrogant as she announced the sentence. The defense had requested that he serve no jail time while prosecutors had asked the Manhattan jurist to force Cuti to serve a substantial amount of prison time.

Prosecutors said he reported inflated income from fraudulent real estate transactions and made it appear that expenses were decreasing from 2000 to 2005 to inflate income.