On July 11, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania announced that Pennsylvania resident Frank T. Poerio, Jr. pleaded guilty to four counts of securities fraud for unlawfully trading in Dick’s Sporting Goods (“Dick’s”) securities. As part of his guilty plea, Poerio reportedly admitted that he obtained material nonpublic information (“MNPI”) from a Dick’s employee and engaged in more than a hundred trades of Dick’s securities based on the information received between August 2019 and May 2021. According to the SEC, Poerio obtained the MNPI from an employee in a data analytics role at Dick’s with whom he frequently discussed financing and investing. Federal prosecutors allege that Poerio was aware that the information provided by the employee was nonpublic information. His trades also allegedly occurred just before Dick’s released periodic earning statements, during “blackout” periods when Dick’s employees were prohibited from trading in company securities. According to the USAO, Poerio generated approximately $823,000 in unlawful profits from the trades. Poerio is currently scheduled to be sentenced on October 3, 2024.
In May 2024, the SEC filed also parallel civil charges against Poerio alleging that his trades in Dick’s securities violated Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. At that time, Poerio consented to the entry of judgment against him and agreed to be permanently enjoined from future securities violations. He also agreed to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest at a later date, as well as any civil penalties that the court deems appropriate.
USAO WDPA Press Release | Plea Agreement | Information | SEC Complaint | Consent Judgment