Prosecutors seek 5-year prison sentence for former Rep. Collins for committing insider trading

esented the 27^th congressional district of New York, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He also pleaded guilty to one count of making false statement to federal law enforcement agents. Each violation carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

He admitted tipping off his son, Cameron about the negative drug trial results of Innate Therapeutics’ MIS416— a treatment for multiple sclerosis. At the time, Collins was a major shareholder and serving on the company’s Board.

The former lawmakers’ insider information allowed Cameron, his fiancée’s father, Stephen Zarsky and others prevent substantial losses from their stockholdings in Innate Therapeutics. They sold their shares, a day before the company issued a press release about the negative drug trial results on June 26, 2013. They avoided combined losses of more than $700,000 in losses after selling 1.7 million shares of Innate Therapeutics.