BOSTON — A former executive at the Biopure Corp. of Cambridge was charged Wednesday with lying to a federal judge about having cancer, the Justice Department said.

Howard P. Richman, 57, of Pearland, Tex., was charged with falsely telling a federal judge that he had colon cancer to get out of participating in a civil case brought against him by the Security Exchange Commission, the Justice Department said.

If convicted he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.