A mere two months after this Court enjoined defendant Pustovit from engaging in further securities fraud and froze certain of his assets, defendant Pustovit, flouting the Court’s Preliminary Injunction Order, set out to victimize more individual investors for profit. In short, defendant Pustovit is a recidivist – a fraudster determined to rig the stock market for his benefit to the detriment of retail investors. [....]
In the weeks that followed, defendant Pustovit met with the undersigned Assistant United States Attorneys and the FBI to discuss his misconduct, and he was told that he would not be facing prosecution based upon his cooperation. Despite this assurance, approximately three months later, defendant Pustovit made the decision to commit more fraud. In order to hide his conduct from law enforcement, he engaged in an elaborate scheme to defraud using straw accounts controlled by unsuspecting individuals in which to conduct the manipulative trading. After the entry of this Court’s Preliminary Injunction Order and his meetings with law enforcement, defendant Pustovit and his coschemer made an additional $98,396 in illegal profit. All told, defendant Pustovit’s profits from his fraudulent conduct totaled over $300,000.
Given the significant profits defendant Pustovit made from his fraudulent conduct, the impact on the victims and the integrity of the financial markets, the length of time defendant Pustovit engaged in the criminal conduct, his obstructive behavior, the violation of the Court’s Order, and the need to deter him and others from engaging in stock manipulation, a 63 month term of imprisonment is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to reflect the goals of sentencing.
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