Woman pleads guilty in Disney insider trading case

Bonnie Hoxie, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, court papers show.

She could face four to 10 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines and a fine of as much as $250,000, the papers show.

The boyfriend Yonni Sebbag, 30, pleaded guilty to the same two charges on August 23, prosecutors said. The Moroccan citizen faces 27 to 33 months in prison and agreed to forfeit $15,000 he received from undercover FBI agents.

Hoxie entered her plea in Manhattan before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Dolinger, according to her lawyer Robert Baum. She is flying back to Los Angeles and scheduled to be sentenced on December 21, he said. Baum declined to discuss Hoxie’s plea.

Prosecutors said the defendants tried to sell information about upcoming Disney earnings and possible merger activity, which Hoxie had learned through her employment, to more than 30 U.S. and European hedge funds.

They were arrested in May after several of the funds reported their activities to authorities. Hoxie had worked for Zenia Mucha, Disney’s corporate communications chief.

Among the leaks were details of possible advanced talks over a sale of Disney’s ABC television network, prosecutors said. Disney has called references to such talks “false.”

“Bonnie Hoxie admitted to playing with a stacked deck by selling valuable Disney secrets to make a quick buck,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

A Disney spokesman declined to comment on Hoxie’s plea. The Burbank, California-based media company said last month Hoxie no longer works at Disney.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against Hoxie and Sebbag in May. While it was unclear what motivated them, the SEC said Hoxie had told Sebbag she coveted expensive shoes and a $700 Stella McCartney handbag.

SEC spokesman John Heine had no comment on the SEC case.

The case is U.S. v. Hoxie, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-mag-01113.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York. Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles. Editing by Robert MacMillan)

Photo Credit Theodorakis/News

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