After 'Affront to Justice' Testimony, Ex-SEC Lawyer Gets 8 Years in 'Pump & Dump'
Calling a former Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney’s testimony an “affront to justice” and “one of the biggest pack of lies I’ve ever heard,” a federal judge in Alexandria, Va., today sentenced Phillip Offill Jr. to eight years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady said he would have imposed an even heftier sentence on Offill in the pump-and-dump penny-stock scheme but for the relatively minimal sentences a number of other defendants obtained in plea bargains, reports the Associated Press. Offill was convicted by a jury earlier this year of 10 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy.
Offill worked 15 years for the SEC before joining the Godwin Gruber law firm. He is expected to appeal.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-SEC Lawyer Convicted in ‘Pump and Dump’ Scheme”
