Former O's Third Baseman, Doug DeCinces, Indicted For Insider Trading
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Federal authorities are calling foul against former Orioles third baseman Doug DeCinces.
Derek Valcourt explains the former Oriole faces criminal charges of insider trading.
This is the same insider trading scandal that led to an investigation of Hall of Famer Eddie Murray. Now DeCinces could go to jail for it.
For nine years, DeCinces made a name for himself as a hard-working Orioles third baseman who helped the O's score an American League pennant in 1979. The Orioles Hall of Famer batted in some 879 runs in his career.
Now 62-year-old DeCinces faces federal criminal charges in his home state of California, where prosecutors allege he earned $1.2 million in illegal profit by trading on insider information given to him from a friend: that Abbott Labratories was about to acquire Advanced Medical Optics in 2009.
DeCinces has already paid $2.5 million in fines after a civil lawsuit from Securities and Exchange Commission over the same stock deal.
"There's no question he bought the stocks," said Byron Warnken, legal expert.
Warnken says insider trading can be difficult to prove, but he says the federal prosecutors have a high conviction rate.
"If the feds indict you, it means they think they've got the case and are convinced they can prove it," Warnken said.
Earlier this summer, DeCinces' teammate, Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, paid a $350,000 fine to settle a Securities Exchange Commission lawsuit against him for the same $2.8 billion Abbott Labs buyout of Advanced Medical Optics.
Murray has not been criminally charged.
In all, DeCinces faces 43 criminal charges. All of them carry lengthy possible prison sentences.
His first court hearing is set for Dec. 17.
WJZ's repeated calls to DeCinces' attorney in Los Angeles were not returned.
