Donald Longueuil, a former portfolio manager at SAC Capital Advisors, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud.  Federal prosecutors arrested Mr. Longueuil, 35, in February along with Noah Freeman, another SAC Capital portfolio manager; Samir Barai, the head of Barai Capital Management; and Jason Pflaum, an employee of Mr. Barai’s. 

Longueuil was charged with trading in Marvell Technology stock based on an illegal tip provided to him by Mr. Barai. According to court filings, the source of that original tip was Winifred Jiau, a former employee of Primary Global Research, a so-called expert network firm. Ms. Jiau has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges.

Mr. Longueuil described in court how after reading news reports about the government’s insider trading investigation last fall he destroyed his hard drive that contained incriminating evidence. The government, however, dropped its obstruction of justice charge against Mr. Longueuil.

Under the plea agreement with the government, Mr. Longueuil faces a prison sentence of 46 months to 57 months. The judge could depart from those guidelines. Sentencing is scheduled for July 29.  

Mr. Freeman and Mr. Pflaum are cooperating with the government.

Neither SAC nor its founder, Steven A. Cohen, has been accused of any wrongdoing. The firm denounced the conduct of Mr. Longueuil and Mr. Freeman at the time of their arrest.    [NY Times 4/28/11]