Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- A former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. salesman was sentenced to probation and a fine for trading on stock tips gleaned from the wife of a colleague.

Frederick E. Bowers was sentenced today by District Judge George B. Daniels in Manhattan to three years’ probation for conspiracy and securities fraud, according to his attorney. Bowers must also serve 2,000 hours of community service, pay a $15,000 fine and forfeit $12,000.

Bowers, 41, pleaded guilty to the charges in May. He had faced as many as 18 months in prison. He and two others were charged in December along with Matthew Devlin, another former Lehman salesman, with insider trading for stealing information from his wife, a Brunswick Group public-relations executive. Nina Devlin wasn’t accused of wrongdoing.

“I thank the court for considering the unique circumstances of this case and for allowing Mr. Bowers to give back to society and those in need by ordering community service in lieu of incarceration,” attorney Marc Agnifilo said in an e- mailed statement.

Matthew Devlin tipped former day trader Jamil Bouchareb about 12 pending deals, Eric Holzer, a tax lawyer who worked at Paul Hastings, about three, and Bowers about three, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Bowers then tipped one of his Lehman clients, who earned $217,000 and kicked back some cash to Bowers, the SEC said.

People trading on the tips reaped more than $4.8 million on illegal transactions from March 2004 to July 2008, the SEC said.

The case is U.S. v. Bowers, 08-mj-2779, U.S. District Judge, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Cary O’Reilly in Washington at caryoreilly@bloomberg.net; David Glovin in U.S. District Court in New York at 9245 or dglovin@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 16, 2009 13:12 EDT