Republican ex-congressman Steve Buyer gets 22 months in prison for insider trading [New York Daily News]

Steve Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana, was sentenced Tuesday to 22 months in prison for insider trading.

Buyer, 64, made the illegal trades after he left Congress and began working as a lobbyist and consultant. He received early information about T-Mobile acquiring Sprint in 2018, and consulting company Guidehouse buying competitor Navigant in 2019.

In both cases, Buyer purchased stock in the company being acquired, then profited when the mergers were publicly announced. Altogether, Buyer profited more than $350,000 and sent the money to his wife, his family members and his mistress.

“When insiders like Buyer — an attorney, a former prosecutor and a retired congressman — monetize their access to material, nonpublic information…they not only violate the federal securities laws, but also undermine public trust and confidence in the fairness of our markets,” said SEC enforcement director Gurbir Grewal.

Buyer was further ordered to repay his ill-gotten $350,000 and fined $10,000. Manhattan Federal Court Judge Richard M. Berman said the case “screams guilty.”

Berman was also uninterested in Buyer’s arguments that the trial was unfair because New York City is largely populated by Democrats. The judge pointed out that jurors also came from six suburban counties and all reached the same verdict.

Buyer consistently denied that he did anything wrong.

He had joined the lobbyist ranks after deciding not to seek reelection in 2010, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife. Buyer served in Congress from 1993-2011. He was best known for his work as a House prosecutor in Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment trial.

With News Wire Services

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