Former U.S. congressman Collins sentenced to 26 months for insider trading

[rooster59]

Former U.S. congressman Collins sentenced to 26 months for insider trading

By Jonathan Allen

 

Chris Collins, former U.S. Representative for New York's 27th congressional district departs after pleading guilty at Federal Court in New York City, New York, U.S., October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chris Collins, a former U.S. congressman from New York who was an early backer of President Donald Trump, was sentenced to 26 months in prison and fined $200,000 on Friday after pleading guilty to taking part in an insider trading scheme.

 

Before the sentence was handed down, Collins, 69, said in highly emotional remarks to the judge that he felt his life was over and that he was still ashamed to see his former constituents after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements last October.

 

"My life has been shattered, my reputation has been shattered, but worse, my family has been shattered," he said in federal court in Manhattan, at times losing his voice to emotion during remarks he described as "probably the last act I'll do in public."

 

His wife, Mary, wept behind him, sitting next to their daughter as Collins described the "dark, dark place" he was in after his conviction.

 

"I climbed out of it because of her," he said of his wife.

 

He also begged U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick to be merciful next week when sentencing his son, Cameron, who was also convicted as part of the insider trading scheme.

 

Collins was convicted of trading on insider information while a board member and 16.8% stakeholder of Australian biotechnology company Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd. A day before pleading guilty last year, he resigned his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives representing New York's 27th District.

 

After learning from an email sent by Innate Immunotherapeutics' chief executive that an experimental multiple sclerosis drug had failed a clinical trial, Collins relayed the news to his son, enabling the son to sell shares before the news became public and eroded their value. His son also passed the tip on to others.

 

Collins had faced a maximum of five years in prison. His lawyers argued that he should be confined at home. They said he had made a bad decision because he was overcome with disappointment on learning the drug had failed.

 

"People who have received extremely devastating news sometimes make really stupid decisions," Jonathan Barr, one of Collins' lawyers, told the court.

 

The judge disagreed.

 

"I don't view this as just a spur of the moment loss of judgment," Broderick said.

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Leslie Adler and Sonya Hepinstall)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-18

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[zydeco]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Chris Collins, a former U.S. congressman from New York who was an early backer of President Donald Trump, was sentenced to 26 months in prison and fined $200,000 on Friday after pleading guilty to taking part in an insider trading scheme.

26 months? Should have been 26 years. Now, tell me that insiders aren't front running Donald's tweets on trade and war.

[Tug]

Good tho not enough time imo

[Chomper Higgot]

All the best people.

[legend49]

2 hours ago, zydeco said:

26 months? Should have been 26 years. Now, tell me that insiders aren't front running Donald's tweets on trade and war.

Special mate of Donny. Special rates for mates. LOL.

[Bluespunk]

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

My life has been shattered, my reputation has been shattered, but worse, my family has been shattered," he said in federal court in Manhattan, at times losing his voice to emotion during remarks he described as "probably the last act I'll do in public."

Yeah, backing trump was a terrible mistake. 

Edited January 18, 2020 by Bluespunk

[mogandave]

Martha Stewart only got 5 months. 
 

[jany123]

Draining the swamp ????

[jany123]

36 minutes ago, mogandave said:

Martha Stewart only got 5 months. 
 

Yes, and the company director of imclone got seven years three months, so convict Collins got off lightly

[mogandave]

1 hour ago, jany123 said:

Yes, and the company director of imclone got seven years three months, so convict Collins got off lightly

Providing information is worse than acting on it. 

[Sujo]

2 minutes ago, mogandave said:

Providing information is worse than acting on it. 

Collins did both.

[mogandave]

1 minute ago, Sujo said:

Collins did both.

No he didn’t, he only relayed the information to his son. He was not a company officer.

[jany123]

15 minutes ago, mogandave said:

Providing information is worse than acting on it. 

Martha acted on info provided.... Collins provided info that others acted upon. Collins actions were worse, by your own metric... Collins sentence was higher, as is appropriate for a worse crime. Your choice of analogy was ill informed.

Edited January 18, 2020 by jany123

[jack7106]

FN greedy piece of dog excrement????????

This sort of behaviour is rife in Australia and around the world. One needs to look at the millionaires factory – the Macquarie bank????????‍♂️
I’m sick of these greedy <deleted> who take it upon themselves to exploit genuine normal every day shareholders – may they rot in hell along with his son and their family & be stripped of any assets and wealth that they have????????

[mogandave]

2 hours ago, jany123 said:

Martha acted on info provided.... Collins provided info that others acted upon. Collins actions were worse, by your own metric... Collins sentence was higher, as is appropriate for a worse crime. Your choice of analogy was ill informed.

I agree it’s worse, particularly given his position, bit all this vitriol (26 years?) for a poor old man whose big gesture  mistake was supporting Trump? 
 

He was not a company officer or broker, he told his son. 
 

So if Martha has told her friends she should have gotten 26 years? 

 

[Sujo]

2 hours ago, mogandave said:

No he didn’t, he only relayed the information to his son. He was not a company officer.

He was a director of the company.

note it says collins AND his son had $35 Mill.

 

https://www.tricountyindependent.com/zz/news/20200117/ex-us-rep-collins-gets-over-2-years-in-insider-trading-case/1

Edited January 18, 2020 by Sujo

[mogandave]

19 minutes ago, Sujo said:

He was a director of the company.

note it says collins AND his son had $35 Mill.

 

https://www.tricountyindependent.com/zz/news/20200117/ex-us-rep-collins-gets-over-2-years-in-insider-trading-case/1

Didn’t see that he was a board member. 
 

While they are worth $35M, they (apparently) only held about $870k in this. 
 

I don’t think 26 months is out of line. 

[DoktorC]

I wonder if Trump asked the Australian PM for help in investigating the corruption.  And why was Collins on the Board of Directors, what qualifications does he have for biotechnology?    Hmmmm another quid pro quo....

[Mac98]

Maybe Trump will pardon him.

[simple1]

6 hours ago, Mac98 said:

Maybe Trump will pardon him.

Doubt if trump would want to draw attention to the insider knowledge of his family trades.

[TopDeadSenter]

18 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Doubt if trump would want to draw attention to the insider knowledge of his family trades.

Am I smelling yet another false and defamatory bout of smears leveled at POTUS Trump? Er yes, it appears so. Just shameful how many baseless accusations have been thrown at one incredible man, and even more amazing how they slide off him like fried flounder fillets from a Teflon pan.

[simple1]

26 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Am I smelling yet another false and defamatory bout of smears leveled at POTUS Trump? Er yes, it appears so. Just shameful how many baseless accusations have been thrown at one incredible man, and even more amazing how they slide off him like fried flounder fillets from a Teflon pan.

I would guess an accurate assumption based on knowledge of trump family prior behaviour. In any case the volume of lies and smears coming from trump are now 15,000 plus in the past three years, not exactly innocent of appalling behaviour is he...

Edited January 19, 2020 by simple1

[Sujo]

42 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Am I smelling yet another false and defamatory bout of smears leveled at POTUS Trump? Er yes, it appears so. Just shameful how many baseless accusations have been thrown at one incredible man, and even more amazing how they slide off him like fried flounder fillets from a Teflon pan.

According to his twitter rants i doubt they just slide off him

[spidermike007]

Up until not too many years ago, insider trading was totally legal for members of the incredibly corrupt US congress and the senate. Many made fortunes on this information.

 

291, enacted April 4, 2012) is an Act of Congress designed to combat insider trading. It was signed into law by President Barack Obama on April 4, 2012. The bill prohibits the use of non-public information for private profit, including insider trading by members of Congress and other government employees.

[sucit]

Congress is filled with crooks looking out for themselves, making money using their position. The goal of the government today is extraction. Extract as much money as you possibly can from the poor, and dole it out to theirselves and their rich buddies. That is the system we have. 

[Just Weird]

6 hours ago, simple1 said:

In any case the volume of lies and smears coming from trump are now 15,000 plus in the past three years, not exactly innocent of appalling behaviour is he...

"...not exactly innocent of appalling behaviour is he..."

At least that's not illegal.

[simple1]

3 hours ago, Just Weird said:

"...not exactly innocent of appalling behaviour is he..."

At least that's not illegal.

trump has a record of criminality. However, regards impeachment we will see if the Senate can actually abide by their oath to act with impartiality - personally I don't think so.

[Just Weird]

15 hours ago, simple1 said:

18 hours ago, Just Weird said:

"...not exactly innocent of appalling behaviour is he..."

At least that's not illegal.

trump has a record of criminality.

Go on, then, let's see an example of his "criminality" from that record that you have.  This should be good!

[Ramen087]

46 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

Go on, then, let's see an example of his "criminality" from that record that you have.  This should be good!

Don’t hold your breath, sir. There’s less here than in a speeder near Mos Eisley.

Edited January 20, 2020 by Ramen087

[Just Weird]

6 minutes ago, Ramen087 said:

52 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

Go on, then, let's see an example of his "criminality" from that record that you have.  This should be good!

Don’t hold your breath, sir. There’s less here than in a speeder near Mos Eisley.

You'll have to explain that one to me, sorry!