Environmental lawyer wins acquittal in US insider trading case
20/12/2023 21:59
By David Thomas
Dec 20 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Chicago has
acquitted an environmental lawyer of insider trading charges
after his co-conspirator was found innocent of the same crime.
U.S. District Judge Manish Shah on Tuesday entered a
judgment of acquittal for David Sargent, a former faculty member
at Loyola University Chicago's School of Environmental
Sustainability.
"Mr. Sargent is very happy that the judge concurred with his
argument that there was not enough evidence for a rational jury
to conclude that he committed insider trading," his lawyer
Christopher Grohman said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Chicago U.S. Attorney's Office did
not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sargent was convicted in mid-January by a federal jury after
prosecutors said he received nonpublic information about the
earnings of Chegg Inc, an education technology company, to make
$110,000 in profit on trades of Chegg stock.
But the same jury at the same trial acquitted Christopher
Klundt, a former Chegg manager who allegedly tipped off Sargent
before the earnings news became public.
Sargent argued that his conviction and Klundt's acquittal
were based on the same evidence, charges and jury instructions.
Both Sargent and Klundt asserted their innocence in the
run-up to the trial, which lasted eight days.
Grohman, a partner at law firm Benesch, said Sargent has
"sustained significant financial and professional hardship due
to this case and looks forward putting this behind him."
The case is United States v. Klundt, U.S. District Court for
the Northern District of Illinois, 1:22-cr-00015
(Reporting by David Thomas)