by Howard Haykin

For all his accolades as an all-star third baseman with the Baltimore Orioles and the California Angeles, Doug DeCinces succumbed to greedy temptation and traded on insider information – that according to the verdict reached by a federal jury in California. DeCinces was also convicted on charges that he passed along the inside tip to his friend and co-defendant, David Parker, and other DeCinces family members and acquaintances.

Federal prosecutors convinced the jurors that DeCinces knowingly netted $1.3 million in illicit profits by acquiring more than 90,000 shares of Advanced Medical Optics prior to a public announcement in 2009 that it was to be acquired by Abbott Labs. Prosecutors also alleged that Parker and 13 others made another $1.3 million in illicit profits by trading on tips received from DeCinces.

In the final verdict, the jury convicted DeCinces, 66, on 14 of 29 counts of felony. The jury also convicted David Parker, 65, on 3 felony counts, but was deadlocked on all 18 counts against supposed tipper, James Mazzo, 60 – a Laguna Beach neighbor who owned Santa-Ana based Advanced Medical Optics. Prosecutors haven’t announced if they will re-try Mazzo.

DeCinces, 66, now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Ken Julian, an attorney for DeCinces, said he planned to ask for a new trial.

SEC SETTLEMENT ON SAME INSIDER TRADING CHARGES.    In August 2011, the SEC charged DeCinces, along with Mazzo and Parker, of insider trading. DeCinces eventually paid $2.5 million to settle the SEC charges. Eddie Murray, the Hall of Famer with the Orioles, paid $358,000 to settle SEC charges he traded on tips provided by DeCinces.

A little more than a year later, DeCinces and the others were criminally indicted.