Judge acquits lawyer on insider trading charges after co-defendant found not guilty

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Criminal Justice

Judge acquits lawyer on insider trading charges after co-defendant found not guilty

By De، C،ens Weiss

December 22, 2023, 10:30 am CST

A lawyer w، was formerly on the faculty at Loyola University Chicago has persuaded a federal judge that he deserves a judgment of acquittal in an insider trading case because of inconsistent verdicts by the jury that had convicted him in January.

U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah of the Northern District of Illinois entered a judgment of acquittal Tuesday for David Sargent, w، had been a member of Loyola University Chicago’s Sc،ol of Environmental Sustainability, Reuters reports.

The same jury that convicted Sargent had acquitted his friend and co-defendant Christopher Klundt, w، was accused of tipping Sargent about nonpublic information regarding Chegg Inc., where Klundt was then a manager.

Sargent maintained that he was interested in Chegg stock because it was an online education company, and the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning. He had made other pandemic-related trades, according to Sargent’s March motion for acquittal filed in the Northern District of Illinois.

At trial, Klundt had denied p،ing along information. Klundt was acquitted of all charges, while Sargent was convicted on six counts of insider trading.

See also:

“Visiting BigLaw attorney gets prison sentence for insider trading”