Futures Trader Receives Dubious Honor

On the one hand, it's always exciting to be the first person in history to achieve something. On the other, it's probably less exciting when that achievement is being the first person convicted on spoofing charges sentenced to time in prison. Still, prosecutors wanted Michael Coscia to go away for about double the time he received, so net/net, not as bad a day as it could have been!

A U.S. judge sentenced futures trader Michael Coscia to three years in prison on Wednesday, a lighter punishment than prosecutors had sought for the first person criminally convicted of the manipulative trading practice of spoofing. Coscia also was sentenced to two years of supervised release from jail, in a case that was closely watched by traders who want to avoid similar charges and market regulators. Spoofing involves placing bids to buy or offers to sell futures contracts with the intent to cancel them before execution. By creating an illusion of demand, spoofers can influence prices to benefit their market positions. Prosecutors had asked U.S. Judge Harry Leinenweber to lock up Coscia, owner of New Jersey-based Panther Energy Trading, for as long as seven years and three months after he was convicted last year of spoofing and commodities fraud.

First U.S. trader convicted of spoofing sentenced to three years in jail [Reuters]