NY judge sentences ex-trader to 9 years in prison

NEW YORK (AP) — A former portfolio manager convicted of helping his firm earn more than a quarter-billion dollars illegally through insider trading has been sentenced in New York to nine years in prison.

Boca Raton, Florida, resident Mathew Martoma was sentenced Monday. Prosecutors say Martoma and Stamford, Connecticut-based SAC Capital Advisors dumped millions of shares of two pharmaceutical companies after he learned in 2008 about the secret results of an Alzheimer's drug trial.

The government says Martoma corrupted a University of Michigan professor in charge of the safety committee for what was hoped to be a breakthrough drug to control the incurable memory-destroying disease.

Martoma's attorney insists he made a sensible decision to sell the bloated stocks of the pharmaceutical companies that sponsored the drug trial.

Martoma's billionaire boss, Steven A. Cohen, has disputed the allegations involving his company.