The popular sports gambler William Walters got a 5-year prison sentence yesterday, after in April 2016, he got convicted in what turned out to be one of the most-commented US insider trading trials over a large period of time. One of the reasons why the trial has drawn so much public attention was because Walters has been long associated with the billionaire investor Carl Icahn and Phil Mickelson, a champion golfer, neither of whom were charged with any violations related to the case.
The 71-year-old “Billy” Walters was convicted by Federal prosecutors in generating over $43 million in profits and avoided losses of about $11 million in the period 2008-2014. The sentence was pronounced by the US District Judge Kevin Castel, plus a monetary fine estimated to $10 million, as well as one year of supervised release. Now, after the jail sentence was officially announced, Walters is expected to surrender on October 10th. He also plans to appeal the sentence.
Back in April, William Walters was convicted on all counts he faced, including wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy. Walters was also accused of trading on insider information on Dean Foods Co., with the information being provided to him by the ex company Chairman Thomas Davis. As mentioned above, Phil Mickelson and Carl Icahn were also said to be involved in the illegal actions of Walters, but neither of them got convicted.
According to Federal prosecutors, the champion golfer generated about $1 million after taking Walters’ advice to become a shareholder in Dean Foods in 2012. He was not asked to testify at the time of the trial against Walters, but the prosecution took in account the testimony from Thomas Davis, former chairman of Dean Foods Co.
The prosecution further revealed that Mr. Davis was used to offering tips over prepaid cellphones. According to them, he had also been speaking in code with the sports gambler in regards to Dean Foods. US Federal prosecutors explained that Walters took advantage of company’s secrets revealed to him by Davis in order for him to then trade on them.
The US District Judge Kevin Castel not only called William Walters a cheater and a criminal, but also described his crime as “amateurishly simple”. He also rejected a defence request for a 366-prison term, and is expected to later determine fines and compensations later. During Walters’ appeal, Judge Castel rejected the sports gambler’s request to stay free on bail.
When given the opportunity to speak, William Walters said almost nothing, but thanked Judge Castel for getting familiar with all the submitted materials on his behalf. The acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Joon H. Kim, made a commentary after the 5-year prison sentence was announced, saying that generating millions in the stock market by using fraud leads to “federal penitentiary”.
- Author
Daniel Williams
