CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — The man who founded the country’s leading supplier of body armor to the United States military was sentenced on Thursday to 17 years in prison for running a $185 million stock swindle in which he used the proceeds to finance luxuries like a $100,000 diamond-encrusted American flag belt buckle and lavish parties featuring Aerosmith, the Eagles and Tom Petty.

The man, David H. Brooks, 58, the former chief executive of DHB Industries Inc., was convicted in 2010 of securities fraud and conspiracy. He and the company’s former chief operating officer were accused of falsely inflating the value of the inventory of the company’s top product, the Interceptor vest, to help meet profit margin projections.

Judge Joanna Seybert of United States District Court said Mr. Brooks displayed a total lack of remorse — “not a glimmer, not a whisper, not a moment of regret.”

“He attempted to portray himself as a great patriot,” Judge Seybert said, attracting investors who thought they were helping to protect the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.