Ex-firm exec pleads guilty in insider trading case
Source: Associated Press
Ex-firm exec pleads guilty in insider trading case
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press | September 24, 2014 | Updated: September 24, 2014 1:57pm
NEW YORK (AP) — A former executive at a New York investor firm pleaded guilty to an insider trading charge Wednesday, blaming long work hours and drugs in part for his use of information from drafts of press releases to earn nearly a million dollars.
Michael Lucarelli entered the plea to a federal securities fraud charge on Wednesday, his 52nd birthday, agreeing with prosecutors that federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison sentence of between three and four years. Sentencing was set for Jan. 8.
Lucarelli, wearing a suit, strolled out of the courthouse afterward beside his attorney, Patrick W. McGinley. His exit contrasted with his attempt to elude photographers after his August arrest. Then, he ran out of his sandals racing down the sidewalk in a tank top and slacks, earning him a mocking "Moment of Zen" on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."
As he described his crime to U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman, Lucarelli apologized and paused briefly to cry.
He said long hours at Manhattan-based investor relations firm Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates Inc., where he was director of market intelligence, his failure to take vacation for two years and complications from Crohn's disease that led to a dependence on drugs were in part to blame for his illegal trading over the last year. He said commissions for his work sometimes were not paid in a timely manner.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Ex-firm-exec-pleads-guilty-in-insider-trading-case-5777574.php
