RPT-NY case against former Goldman programmer adjourned to October

NEW YORK Aug 15 (Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc computer programmer Sergey Aleynikov made a brief appearance in New York criminal court Wednesday, nearly a week after he was charged with stealing trading code from the bank.

His case was adjourned by New York City Criminal Court Judge Anthony Ferrara to Oct. 23. Prosecutors have not yet announced a formal grand jury indictment against him, and he has not yet entered a plea.

Aleynikov, 42, was charged Aug. 9 with stealing proprietary code from Goldman in 2009 before leaving for a job at a high-frequency trading startup. The case, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, came six months after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Aleynikov's conviction in federal court.

Kevin Marino, Aleynikov's defense attorney, has said his client will fight the charges.

Aleynikov is currently free on $35,000 bail. He had served nearly one year of an eight-year federal prison sentence when his conviction was reversed. If found guilty on the state charges, he could face up to 4 years in prison.

State prosecutors have six months to return a formal grand jury indictment.

The case is People v. Aleynikov, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 60353/2012.