![Ex-Congressman sentenced to jail for insider trading Ex-Congressman sentenced to jail for insider trading](https://i0.wp.com/content.fortune.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GettyImages-2062515-e1695207529906.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1)
Former congressman Stephen Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison on Tuesday for trading on inside information he gained as a consultant to private companies such as T-Mobile.
Last year, he was be accused Suspected of using inside information to purchase $1.5 million worth of stock. In March, he was convicted of four counts of securities fraud for his role in two insider trading schemes.
In addition to being sentenced to nearly two years in prison, the 64-year-old buyer was ordered to pay more than $350,000 in forfeiture, and the judge ruled he must also repay a yet-to-be-determined amount.
From 1993 to 2011, Buyer served as a Republican member representing Indiana in the House of Representatives and served as one of 13 House members. house manager The 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.
After leaving Congress, Buyer served as a consultant to private companies. One of those companies is telecommunications giant T-Mobile.As an advisor to the company, the buyer understands the following information T-Mobile’s multibillion-dollar merger with Sprint Corporation before the deal was publicly announced.
Around March and April 2018, the buyer purchased Sprint stock. At the end of April, shortly after the buyer’s acquisition, T-Mobile announced that it had agreed to acquire Sprint in a $26.5 billion deal.Announcement has been sent Share prices of two companies soared.
Evidence, statements and court documents gathered before and during the buyer’s trial show that T-Mobile executives informed a small group of trusted advisors, including the buyer, about the merger before the public announcement and instructed them to retain This information is kept confidential.
The buyer made more than $126,000 by buying and selling Sprint stock based on his inside information, officials said.
A year later, before advisory firm Guidehouse acquired Navigant Consulting, the buyer participated in another insider trading scheme involving Navigant Consulting stock.
Buyer is a consultant to Guidehouse and learned of the company’s intention to acquire Navigant through contacts with the company.
He bought shares in Navigant before the company officially announced the deal and sold it at a profit after the deal was publicly announced.
According to prosecutors, Buyer made a total of more than $223,000 in illegal transactions through Navigant.
In the buyer’s March trial, U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman found the former congressman’s testimony included a false explanation of his trades in Sprint and Navigant stock, the judge said in Tuesday’s ruling It said this amounted to obstruction of justice.
In sentencing the buyer in a New York court on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said the former congressman “abused his power for unlawful personal gain.”
“No insider traders are above the law and we will continue to bring to justice those who undermine the fairness and integrity of our markets,” he said.
Representatives for the buyer were not immediately available for comment when reached. wealth.
Svlook