yqf@my-deja.com
June 10th, 2006, 12:01 AM
NO STERN SLAP FOR HOWARD'S CPA
By ZACH HABERMAN
June 9, 2006 -- The former head of Howard Stern's accounting firm
skirted Sirius jail time yesterday when a federal judge sentenced him
to probation for hoarding stock in the shock jock's satellite radio
company days before the deal was announced.
"I stand before you today because I unequivocally made the biggest
mistake of my life," accountant Gary Herwitz told Brooklyn federal
court Judge Nicholas Garaufis. "No one's been harder on themselves than
me."
Herwitz, 50, who worked for prominent accounting firm Mahoney Cohen,
pleaded guilty to insider trading in December, just as the Brooklyn
U.S. Attorney was preparing to indict him for scooping up 25,000 shares
of Sirius Satellite Radio.
The shady stock purchase took place in September 2004 - before Stern
announced he was leaving Infinity Broadcasting for a $500 million deal
with Sirius. Herwitz made the move after he heard Stern's personal
money man at the firm say the self-proclaimed King of All Media was
making the jump.
Herwitz, who faced up to 16 months behind bars, made off with nearly
$20,000 when he sold the stock.
"The reason Gary Herwitz broke the law is simply inexplicable," said
his lawyer Marjorie Peerce. "There's no excuse for what he did and he
knows it."
Judge Garaufis likened Herwitz's involvement in the stock scam as
being, "like a Greek tragedy," before giving him a slap on the wrist -
two years probation as well as ordering him to pay a $20,000 fine and
complete a mental health treatment program.
"No purpose would be served in sentencing the defendant to a period of
incarceration," the judge said, citing undisclosed family issues.
By ZACH HABERMAN
June 9, 2006 -- The former head of Howard Stern's accounting firm
skirted Sirius jail time yesterday when a federal judge sentenced him
to probation for hoarding stock in the shock jock's satellite radio
company days before the deal was announced.
"I stand before you today because I unequivocally made the biggest
mistake of my life," accountant Gary Herwitz told Brooklyn federal
court Judge Nicholas Garaufis. "No one's been harder on themselves than
me."
Herwitz, 50, who worked for prominent accounting firm Mahoney Cohen,
pleaded guilty to insider trading in December, just as the Brooklyn
U.S. Attorney was preparing to indict him for scooping up 25,000 shares
of Sirius Satellite Radio.
The shady stock purchase took place in September 2004 - before Stern
announced he was leaving Infinity Broadcasting for a $500 million deal
with Sirius. Herwitz made the move after he heard Stern's personal
money man at the firm say the self-proclaimed King of All Media was
making the jump.
Herwitz, who faced up to 16 months behind bars, made off with nearly
$20,000 when he sold the stock.
"The reason Gary Herwitz broke the law is simply inexplicable," said
his lawyer Marjorie Peerce. "There's no excuse for what he did and he
knows it."
Judge Garaufis likened Herwitz's involvement in the stock scam as
being, "like a Greek tragedy," before giving him a slap on the wrist -
two years probation as well as ordering him to pay a $20,000 fine and
complete a mental health treatment program.
"No purpose would be served in sentencing the defendant to a period of
incarceration," the judge said, citing undisclosed family issues.