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Stock Trader Sentenced to Prison
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - 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.''
AP-NY-02-23-00 1818EST
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