Prison for Tech Who Made Insider Trades Using Law Firm Data

An IT technician for a Silicon Valley law firm who used his access to confidential information to make lucrative stock market trades has been sentenced to two years in prison. Lawyers for Dimitry Braverman, who made insider trades while working at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, had pushed for house confinement and substantial community service, but U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer said, “it is important when an insider trader gets caught – and a repeated insider trader as here – that a substantial sentence is imposed.” Braverman made more than $300,000 by trading ahead of deal announcements for firms like Dealer.com and Seagate Technology Plc’s purchase of Xyratex Ltf, which he knew about by accessing confidential computer and database systems. This is the second time in three years that a former employee of the firm has been sentenced for insider trading.