The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently reached settlements with two of three defendants charged for their roles in an insider trading scheme involving the purchase and sale of Kaman Corporation securities. The SEC reported that a federal judge in the Southern District of New York entered final consent judgments on March 26, 2026, concerning Brent Cranmer, a former Kaman insider, and his co-defendant Daniel McCormick.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Cranmer learned of the impending acquisition of the Kaman Corporation while he was serving as the head of a Kaman subsidiary. He allegedly breached his fiduciary or other duty of trust or confidence to Kaman by sharing this material nonpublic information with his friend Jonathan Whitesides in the hopes that he would trade in Kaman securities on Cranmer’s behalf. Instead, Whitesides allegedly purchased call options for himself and shared the MNPI with his friend, McCormick, in hopes that McCormick would place trades on Cranmer’s behalf. However, McCormick allegedly shared the MNPI with another unnamed friend and used the tip to purchase Kaman stock and call options for himself. While neither defendant traded on Cranmer’s behalf, they allegedly generated more than $1 million in illegal profits after the Kaman acquisition was announced publicly. According to the SEC, Whitesides realized approximately $922,636 in illegal profits, and McCormick realized approximately $115,598.
In August 2025, the SEC charged Cranmer, Whitesides, and McCormick for violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Whitesides reached a settlement with the SEC on October 2, 2025, in which he was permanently enjoined from future securities law violations. According to Cranmer’s final judgment, he was permanently enjoined from future securities law violations, was ordered to pay a $50,000 civil penalty, and was prohibited from acting as an officer or director of a public company for five years. McCormick’s final judgment also permanently enjoined him from future securities law violations and ordered him to pay $115,598 in disgorgement – an obligation that was deemed satisfied by a forfeiture ordered in a criminal case filed in connection with his Kaman trades.
In fact, in May 2025, parallel criminal charges were filed against all three defendants for their roles in the insider trading scheme. On May 12, 2025, federal prosecutors charged Cranmer alone with securities fraud but filed a superseding information on May 23, 2025, charging Whitesides and McCormick with securities fraud for their roles in the scheme. McCormick pleaded guilty to securities fraud on September 29, 2025, and was sentenced to two years of supervised release. He was also fined $230,000 and ordered to forfeit $115,596 pursuant to a consent preliminary order of forfeiture dated May 23, 2025. A week later, on October 6, 2025, Whitesides pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and was ordered to forfeit $922,635 pursuant to a consent preliminary order for forfeiture dated May 23, 2025. On January 16, 2026, Cranmer pleaded guilty to securities fraud. He was sentenced to time served and 1 year of supervised release.
SEC Litigation Release | SEC Final Judgment – Cranmer | SEC Final Judgment – McCormick | SEC Complaint | SEC Judgment – Whitesides| Cranmer Information | Superseding Information | Criminal Docket Entries – Sentencing