First Trader Convicted of Spoofing Gets 3-Year Prison Term

  • Panther Energy Trading’s Coscia was charged under Dodd-Frank
  • Greed is only explanation for illegal trades, judge says
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Michael Coscia, the first person convicted of spoofing after it was made a crime under the Dodd-Frank Act, was sentenced to less than half the prison time sought by federal prosecutors.

Coscia, 54, who had argued for probation, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber in Chicago. The only explanation for Coscia engaging in fraud while he was making $150,000 a month trading futures and had a net worth of $15 million was greed, the judge said.