Once-defiant research firm chief who nixed FBI wire gets 4 years in insider trading case
The founder of a Portland, Ore.-based independent research firm, John Kinnucan, made headlines in 2010 when he publicly announced that he had refused an FBI request to wear a wire in a national insider-trading probe.
On Tuesday, the 55-year-old former Broadband Research chief apologized in federal court in Manhattan for serving as a conduit transmitting confidential information between employees of public companies and hedge funds looking to invest. Then he was sentenced to 51 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts for conspiracy and securities fraud and required to forfeit $164,000, according to Bloomberg and Reuters.
Kinnucan also admitted in a plea last year that he attempted to obstruct justice through emails and intimidating voicemails he transmitted to federal prosecutors and others involved in the case. His lawyer had sought a two-year prison term, arguing in a written submission that Kinnucan’s behavior was “caused by stress, depression and alcohol abuse” after he learned he was under investigation.
The Associated Press also has a story.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Research Analyst Who Publicly Refused to Wear FBI Wire Is Arrested in Insider Trading Case”
ABAJournal.com: “Initially Defiant re ‘Fresh-Faced Eager Beavers’ from FBI, Kinnucan Takes Plea”
