You're next: "Stock Trader Sentenced to Prison: A stock trader who was convicted of using insider information to make hundreds of thousands of dollars was sentenced Wednesday to two to six years in state prison and fined $150,000.
Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin sentenced Vincent M. Napolitano, 33, who was convicted Nov. 17 of
possession of stolen property, scheme to defraud, and violations of the state's business law.
Prosecutors, who charged that Napolitano tried to scare witnesses by telling them he was an organized crime figure,
asked the judge to sentence him to five to 15 years and fine him $441,124 - double his illegal profit.
'He wanted them to be fearful and afraid to testify,' Assistant District Attorney Adam Reeves told McLaughlin. 'He's
not a naive and innocent person. He has led a life of crime.'
Napolitano, of Queens, operated a securities trading business in the mid-1990s. He was one several people accused
of receiving insider information from Marisa Baridis, a securities company compliance officer.
An indictment charged that he profited by information he got from Baridis, who at the time worked for Smith Barney
Inc. and later Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Co., both of which are securities firms.
Baridis, 32, pleaded guilty to federal charges in December 1997 and was sentenced to probation in December 1999.
Defense lawyer David Lewis pleaded for leniency, telling McLaughlin that Napolitano has a pregnant wife and two
small children
Sobbing as he spoke just before sentencing, Napolitano said, 'I just want to apologize to the court and to my friends
and family. I learned a lesson. I made a mistake and I'm paying for it.' |
