Former Hedge Fund Analyst Matthew Teeple Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading in US

Matthew Teeple, a former hedge fund analyst at San Francisco-based Artis Capital Management, has pleaded guilty to an insider trading charge in connection with the 2008 takeover of a technology firm.

Teeple pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and agreed to give up $553,890 (£331,155 / €407,422), according to his plea agreement.

US District Judge Robert Patterson in New York is scheduled to sentence Teeple in September. Teeple faces a maximum of five years in jail.

Teeple told US Magistrate Judge James Francis in Manhattan that he had been tipped in advance by David Riley, a former chief information officer at Foundry Networks, of a July 2008 announcement that Foundry had agreed to be acquired by Brocade Communication Systems for about $3bn.

"I deeply regret the role that I played in this illegal conduct," he told the judge, reported Reuters.

Federal prosecutors in March 2013 charged Riley, Teeple and John V Johnson, a portfolio manager for a Denver-based firm, saying trades based on the tips the men received resulted in over $27m in improper gains. Johnson pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2013.

A related civil case by the SEC against the three men is pending.