Business

SAC’s Steinberg faces sentencing with faint hopes

This week will determine how much prison time Michael Steinberg gets — and whether he faints again in the courtroom.

The former SAC Capital trader — who appeared to faint in court in December when a jury announced its guilty verdict — will appear for sentencing on Friday, facing upwards of five years in jail.

Late last week, Steinberg’s lawyer Barry Berke argued in a memo that Steinberg should get no more than two years in prison because he “is a man of many admirable individual characteristics,” in a letter to US District Judge Richard Sullivan.

“More than that, he is a giver and a doer, someone whose contributions to the happiness, success and well-being of his family, friends, and many others are second to none,” Berke wrote.

Unfortunately for Steinberg, Sullivan has a record of being tough on white-­collar criminals. Prosecutors argue that Steinberg should serve as much as 6 1/2 years in prison, according to a sentencing memo filed late Friday.

Steinberg, one of eight former or current SAC employees to be convicted on insider-trading charges, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and four counts of securities fraud.

In February, a jury found ex-SAC trader Mathew Martoma guilty of insider trading in a scheme that helped SAC avoid losses of $275 million. Martoma’s sentencing, which could land him in prison for as long as 20 years, is slated for June 10.