A former hedge-fund trader is due to be sentenced in New York City in one of the biggest insider trading cases in American history. Raj Rajaratnam, 54, was found to have made up to $75m (£48m) in profits from illegal trades. Sri Lankan-born Rajaratnam was convicted in May 2011. The prosecution is requesting nearly 20 years in prison, but the defence is asking for nine years at most, saying their client is in poor health. More than two dozen people were arrested in connection with the case and all have been convicted, with sentences ranging from a few months to 10 years. 'Defiant' In their pre-sentencing arguments, prosecutors have said Rajaratnam "remains defiant that he never committed insider trading and, incredibly, he maintains that the line between legal and illegal conduct was not always clear to him". The defence says Rajaratnam made illegal profits of a much lower sum - about $7m, when the trades made by his Galleon Group of hedge funds are discounted. His legal team has asked for leniency, citing Rajaratnam's "unique constellation of ailments." They say a long prison term will amount to a death sentence. The prosecution has urged the judge to revoke Rajaratnam's $100m bail and require that he report to prison within three weeks. Rajaratnam has been under house arrest and wearing an electronic tag in his Manhattan residence. Among those also convicted in the Galleon case was Bear Stearns hedge-fund trader Danielle Chiesi, a former beauty queen. Prosecutors said the 45-year-old, sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail in July, used her feminine charms to elicit illegal information from male executives.