According to Bloomberg, former Apple director of corporate law Gene Levoff was sentenced today to a fine and four years of probation for insider trading. Levoff faced up to two years in prison, but he will avoid incarceration.
Levoff’s job at Apple was to ensure that Apple employees followed the company’s insider trading policies, including enforcing “blackout periods” around earnings reports. Still, he ended up committing the crime he was supposed to do.
Because of his position, Levoff had access to Apple’s earnings results before they were made public, which he used to buy Apple shares prior to better-than-expected results and sell shares when earnings were weaker than expected. Before being fired by Apple in 2018, Levoff earned around $277,000 and avoided losses of around $377,000.
Levoff pleaded guilty to six counts of securities fraud for insider trading last June, and he was sentenced today. Levoff will pay around $604,000 in addition to four years probation.
Federal prosecutors argued that Levoff should be imprisoned for insider trading to deter other corporate executives from committing a similar crime. Still, the judge overseeing the case said it wasn’t necessary because Levoff lost his job and would no longer be able to practice law.
