Former Schottenfeld Group LLC Trader Sentenced to No Prison for Cooperation

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According to Bloomberg, David Plate, a former trader at Schottenfeld Group LLC has received no prison time for his role in the massive Galleon Group insider trading case.
David Plate, who admitted to participating in an insider-trading ring with ex-Galleon Group LLC trader Zvi Goffer and testified at his trial, was sentenced to three years’ probation and six months’ house arrest.
Plate, 36, a former trader at Schottenfeld Group LLC, was one of 26 people charged in two overlapping insider-trading cases involving Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam. He pleaded guilty in July 2010 to securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud and testified at the trial of Goffer, his brother Emanuel Goffer and trader Michael Kimelman.
U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan, who presided over the case, today called Plate a “significant”prosecution witness who deserved a reduced term because of the help he gave to the government. He cited the recommendation of Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Fish, who said Plate provided information about the insider-trading scheme that no other witness knew.
“Your cooperation was substantial and you were a very important witness at the trial,” Sullivan said.
Plate, who was arrested along with 14 others in November 2009, told the U.S. that while working at Schottenfeld, he received inside information from Zvi Goffer about the acquisitions of 3Com Corp. and Axcan Pharma Inc. and traded on that information in his account and in an account he managed for his sister.

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