Trump pardons ex-lawmaker convicted of insider trading
President Donald Trump pardoned former U.S. Rep. Stephen Buyer, an Indiana Republican convicted of securities fraud for his involvement in insider trading as a T-Mobile U.S. consultant before its merger with Sprint in 2018.
The statement issued Thursday and announced by the White House on Friday did not give any specific reason for the pardon, other than citing Recipient’s service as a U.S. Army judge advocate general and member of Congress as “distinguished and highly productive.”
It was also stated that in granting the Recipient a “full, complete and unconditional pardon”, Trump acted in accordance with the “advice and advice” of the 52 current and former members of the US Senate and House of Representatives listed in the proclamation.
Buyer served as an Indiana Republican in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011 before working as a corporate consultant.
He was convicted of four counts of securities fraud in March 2023 and sentenced to 22 months in prison in September of the same year.
Prosecutors said at trial that Receiver bought Sprint shares after learning from a T-Mobile executive that the telecommunications companies were in merger talks in 2018 and engaged in illegal trading again the following year.
Buyer earned more than $100,000 from Sprint transactions before it was acquired by Guidehouse in 2019, and more than $200,000 from its purchase of shares in Navigant Consulting Inc., according to prosecutors.
Buyer, who served as one of the House managers in the 1999 impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton, took the stand at his own hearing and denied insider trading.
Prosecutors sought a three-year prison sentence for Buyer, saying he abused their client’s trust and lied at trial.
The U.S. Supreme Court in May refused to hear Receiver’s appeal of his conviction.
The Constitution gives the president broad authority to grant pardons for federal crimes.
Pardons do not erase the recipient’s criminal record, but can be viewed as an act of mercy or justice.
with AP
