Ira B. Sokolow’s sentence has been reduced.

U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan, who sentenced the former investment banker to a year and a day in prison, cut Sokolow’s time to eight months because parole guidelines would have required the former merger specialist to serve his entire sentence “contrary to the original intent of the court.” Sokolow, 32, a former vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Shearson Lehman Bros., pleaded guilty last September to one count each of securities fraud and tax evasion.