Galleon Can Wait.  Former Goldman Sachs computer programmer Sergey Aleynikov will be sentenced Thursday, following his conviction of stealing proprietary code.  Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to give Mr. Aleynikov up to 10 years in prison.  Lawyers for Mr. Aleynikov have asked the judge to impose a sentence of probation for their client.

Aleynikov was convicted in December of stealing proprietary code, which generated some $300 million dollars for Goldman in 2009.  The code executes ultra-fast trades using computer algorithms that catch tiny price discrepancies in stock prices. 

Before leaving Goldman for a new job at a start-up, Teza Technologies, Mr. Aleynikov put the the code onto a server in Germany to get around the investment bank’s security systems.  The Russian-born programmer also was convicted of one count of transportation of stolen property.  

Aleynikov, 40, has been in prison since 3/2, when a judge revoked his bail.  The decision to imprison Mr. Aleynikov before his sentencing was prompted by a letter from federal prosecutors, who warned that Mr. Aleynikov had dual citizenship and posed a flight risk.    [NYT Dealbook, 3/1]