Nearly all of the defendants in the Life Time Fitness insider trading case have now been sentenced. According to the indictment and complaint, the case arose when Shane Fleming, former vice president of sales at Life Time Fitness Inc., tipped a friend about merger discussions between Life Time and another company in 2015, on the understanding that the friend, Bret Beshey, would purchase and sell call options, and share the resulting profit with Fleming. The complaint alleges further that Beshey shared the information with three friends, Chastity Clark, Christopher Bonvissuto and Peter Kourtis, who tipped additional individuals Alexander Carlucci, Dimitri Kandalepas, Eric Weller and Austin Mansur, resulting in a profit of $866,628.87. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against eight of the nine named individuals in September 2017, and the Department of Justice brought criminal charges against all nine on the same date.
Mansur pleaded guilty in March 2019 to conspiracy to defraud the United States in violation of 18 USC § 371. He settled with the SEC in June 2019, agreeing to pay $155,211.31 to resolve the civil charges. Mansur was sentenced on August 14, 2019 to four months in prison. In addition to Mansur, the insider trading scheme allegedly involved:
- Shane Fleming – former Vice President of Corporate Sales at Life Time Fitness, who allegedly tipped his friend, Bret Beshey, about the anticipated acquisition of Life Time Fitness. Fleming pleaded guilty, and according to the government’s sentencing memorandum, has cooperated in the investigation, and has shown remorse since first being questioned by the FBI. Fleming’s sentencing, scheduled for August 14, 2019, was postponed until August 30. He settled civil charges with the SEC on September 17, 2018.
- Bret Beshey – friend of Shane Fleming, who received the inside information from Shane Fleming and allegedly tipped the information to others, who used the information to engage in insider trading, profiting by approximately $866,000. Beshey allegedly received $9,500 of the profits. He settled with the SEC in July 2019, and was sentenced to one year in prison in June 2019.
- Peter Kourtis – friend of Bret Beshey, who received Beshey’s tip and allegedly passed the inside information on to three individuals. Kourtis pleaded guilty on February 15, 2018, and was sentenced on August 13, 2019 to four months in prison and a $10,000 fine. He settled with the SEC in April 2018.
- Eric Weller – Pleaded not guilty and was found guilty as to one of the charges (not guilty as to the others) in a jury trial on April 16, 2019. Weller was sentenced on August 1, 2019. A forfeiture motion is under consideration by the Court. Weller also settled civil charges with the SEC.
- Chastity Clark – friend of Bret Beshey, who allegedly received Beshey’s tip. She pleaded guilty in November, 2018, and in February 2019 was sentenced to 45 days in prison. Clark also settled civil charges with the SEC.
- Alex Carlucci – friend of Peter Kourtis, who allegedly received the inside information from Kourtis. He settled with the SEC in April 2019, agreeing to pay $15,798.85 in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest.
- Dimitri Kandalepas – friend of Peter Kourtis, who allegedly received the inside information from Kourtis. The government’s indictment against Kandalepas was dismissed on May 23, 2019. Kandalepas settled with the SEC for $41,005.32 in September 2018.
- Christopher Bonvissuto – Settled with the SEC in September 2018 for $36,714.90.