South Florida Stock Trader Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Role in Securities...

South Florida Stock Trader Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Role in
Securities Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON, July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A stock trader from Jupiter,
Fla., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for engaging in securities
fraud involving several publicly traded companies, Assistant Attorney General
Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced.

Paul M. Gozzo, 33, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham
in the Southern District of Florida. In addition to the prison sentence,
Judge Graham ordered Gozzo to serve two years of supervised release following
his release from prison and to forfeit more than $437,000 in net profits from
his criminal conduct.

Gozzo pleaded guilty on March 17, 2009, to one count of conspiracy to commit
securities fraud and one count of securities fraud. In his plea, Gozzo
admitted to engaging in a market manipulation scheme with two co-conspirators
for the purpose of artificially inflating the prices of several publicly
traded stocks. Gozzo also admitted that he and his co-conspirators
manipulated the stock price of several stocks by, among other things, creating
the false appearance that there was greater investor interest and liquidity in
the stocks than actually existed. In return for his assistance in
manipulating the stock prices of these companies, Gozzo admitted that he
received approximately $540,000, which resulted in a profit to Gozzo of more
than $437,000.

According to information contained in plea documents, Gozzo admitted that he
conspired with a purported investment banker, who owned large amounts of stock
in several public companies, and the investment banker's son to artificially
increase the stock price of those companies. They did so, according to court
documents, by providing support bids for shares of those companies and by
engaging in coordinated trades with each other and others for the purpose of
keeping the stock price artificially inflated and further inflating the stock
price. This created the impression that there was a greater investor interest
in the stock than truly existed, which allowed Gozzo and his co-conspirators
to sell that stock at an artificially high price. Gozzo admitted that he and
his co-conspirators also bought and sold stock through numerous broker-dealers
to make it appear that there were several investors trading in the stocks they
were manipulating, when in fact there were not additional investors. In
return for Gozzo's assistance in manipulating the stock prices of these
companies, the investment banker compensated Gozzo in the form of cash
retainer payments and both free-trading and restricted stock.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief Hand Bond Walther and Trial
Attorney Nicole H. Sprinzen of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and is
being investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office. Significant
assistance was provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U. S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, TDD: +1-202-514-1888