Long Beach Man Gets 27 Months for $37 Million Insider Trading Scheme

Kenneth Robinson — a Long Beach man convicted of passing information from law firms to facilitate a scheme that netted at least $37 million in illegal profits — was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in prison for his role in a long-term insider trading conspiracy with stock trader Garrett Bauer and attorney Matthew Kluger, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.  

Robinson, 46, a mortgage broker, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud.

During his hearing in April 2011, Robinson admitted to acting as the middleman, passing the insider information from Kluger to Bauer more than 10 years ago, according to Newark Star-Ledger.

On Monday, Robinson's two co-conspirators were sentenced to long prison terms, according to the Associated Press.

Former attorney Matthew Kluger received 12 years, the longest sentence ever handed down in an insider trading case. Former stock trader Garrett Bauer received nine years.

The Associated Press also reported that after FBI agents searched his home in early 2011, Robinson secretly recorded conversations with Kluger and Bauer for the government.

In December, Bauer, 44, of New York entered the same plea in Newark federal court, admitting to making stock trades based on information obtained from a co-defendant, Matthew Kluger of Virginia, who allegedly had ties to prominent law firms, according to the Associated Press.