SAC Capital portfolio manager sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for insider trading
- Michael Steinberg, 42, convicted of five conspiracy and securities fraud charges
- Steinberg traded illegal tips about Dell Inc and Nvidia Corp which resulted in $1.82m in profits
- Steinberg must also pay $2m fine and forfeit $365K profit from trading
A New York portfolio manager for one of the nation's largest hedge funds has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for his insider trading conviction.
Federal Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan cited Michael Steinberg's overall good character at the sentencing on Friday.
Steinberg, 42, was convicted in December of five conspiracy and securities fraud charges. He did not speak at sentencing because of a pending appeal.
The Manhattan resident was convicted of trading illegally in two technology stocks in 2009. At the time, he worked for the Stamford, Connecticut-based SAC Capital Advisors.
Michael Steinberg (right) former SAC Capital portfolio manager leaves Federal Court after sentencing in, New York today
Prosecutors accused Steinberg of trading on illegal tips about Dell Inc and Nvidia Corp passed to him by an SAC analyst, who admitted to swapping confidential information among a group of analysts at other hedge funds.
Steinberg's trading resulted in illegal profits of $1.82 million, prosecutors said.
Share this article
The case stemmed from a broad crackdown on insider trading on Wall Street.
Steinberg's lawyers had asked for no more than two years in prison, while prosecutors had argued for up to six-and-a-hald years.
Sullivan also ordered Steinberg to pay a $2 million fine and forfeit $365,142, a sum the government says Steinberg and an SAC analyst were paid from the illegal trading profits.
Steinberg (right) was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after being convicted late 2013 on insider trading
Steinberg's lawyers had asked for no more than two years in prison, while prosecutors had argued for up to six and a half years
Dozens of family members and friends attended the sentencing and sent letters to the judge. The letters, Sullivan said, described Steinberg in a positive light that set him apart from other defendants he had sentenced.
'If it were only based on the character of this man, it would be easy, because I do think this is a good man,' he said. 'But I do have to consider the crime here.'
Steinberg is one of eight current or former SAC Capital employees to be convicted on insider trading charges.
SAC pleaded guilty to fraud charges and has agreed to pay $1.8 billion in criminal and civil settlements.
The Stamford, Connecticut-based firm has rebranded itself Point72 Asset Management as it shifts to being a family office managing Cohen's fortune.
Sullivan granted Steinberg bail, pending an appeal.
Judge Sullivan granted Steinberg (right) bail, pending an appeal
The appeal is expected to focus on Sullivan's not having required the government to prove that Steinberg knew the insider who originally disclosed non-public information had received a benefit for making the disclosure.
Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management, and Anthony Chiasson, co-founder of Level Global Investors, are appealing on similar grounds stemming from convictions in a separate trial Sullivan also oversaw.
During appellate arguments in Newman and Chiasson's case last month, some judges questioned whether Sullivan's interpretation of the insider trading law was correct.
Sullivan on Friday noted the arguments, saying the issue appeared to be 'a closer call than I thought.'
Steinberg's sentence was less severe than those of Newman and Chiasson, who in 2013 received terms from Sullivan of four-and-a-half years and six-and-a-half years in prison, respectively.
The company was founded by billionaire businessman Steven A. Cohen. Cohen has not been charged criminally, but he faces civil claims.
Most watched News videos
- New video shows Epstein laughing and chasing young women
- British Airways passengers turn flight into a church service
- Epstein describes himself as a 'tier one' sexual predator
- Skier dressed as Chewbacca brutally beaten in mass brawl
- Two schoolboys plummet out the window of a moving bus
- Buddhist monks in Thailand caught with a stash of porn
- Melinda Gates says Bill Gates must answer questions about Epstein
- Police dog catches bag thief who pushed woman to the floor
- Holly Valance is shut down by GB News for using slur
- JD Vance turns up heat on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
- Sarah Ferguson 'took Princesses' to see Epstein after prison
- China unveils 'Star Wars' warship that can deploy unmanned jets
