A federal judge in New York City on Tuesday sentenced H. Clayton Peterson, the former managing partner of Arthur Ander sen’s Denver office, to two years’ probation for sharing insider information with his son and pressuring him to trade on the tip.
The first three months of the probation are to be served in home confinement, according to Peterson’s attorneys.
Peterson, who served as a director of Houston-based Mariner Energy, faced 12 to 18 months in prison as part of a plea agreement — up to half of it could be home confinement — but a probation officer had recommended two years of probation and three months of home confinement.
U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson Jr. imposed the sentence, which was slightly more lenient than the recommendation.
Peterson’s attorneys called his insider trading a “lapse in judgment.”
“The court’s decision to sentence Clayton to a no-jail sentence, for which he is grateful, underscores that Clayton’s lapse in judgment was an aberration from his otherwise exemplary life, which included a stellar professional reputation, dedicated philanthropy and admirable service to his country during the Vietnam War,” attorney Steven Glaser, a partner with Skadden Arps, said in a statement.
Peterson pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to securities fraud and conspiracy. The charges carried a maximum of 25 years in federal prison.
Peterson admitted he passed confidential information about a pending merger of Mariner Energy by Apache Corp. to his son, Drew Peterson, in April 2010 and told him to trade stocks on the information.
Drew Peterson, 35, a Denver investment adviser, bought 2,000 shares, much of it on accounts for himself; his sister, Carrie; and an investment club in which he was a member.
Prosecutors said the younger Peterson profited by about $60,000 on the information.
Drew Peterson pleaded guilty to the same charges as his father and has not yet been sentenced. Prosecutors have said Drew Peterson passed the information to a Denver hedge-fund manager who also traded on the information, netting about $5 million.
Though the hedge-fund manager has not been named or charged, sources familiar with the case say he is Bo Brownstein, son of prominent Denver lawyer and lobbyist Norm Brownstein.
Sources also say Bo Brownstein has been in discussions with federal prosecutors.
David Migoya: 303-954-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com
