CEDAR GROVE, N.J. - The youngest person ever charged by federal regulators with stock manipulation is looking toward a future in politics.
Jonathan Lebed has filed paperwork to run for one of two council seats in Cedar Grove. The Essex County town has a nonpartisan election on May 13th.
Three years ago, the then-15-year-old managed to earn close to $1 million by buying penny stocks, talking them up on the Internet and selling them as their value rose.
Lebed agreed to pay the government $285,000 while making no admission or denial of wrongdoing.
He kept more than $800,000 in legal stock trades. He used some of the proceeds to purchase stock and save for a house.
Lebed graduated from high school last year, but is skipping college and running two small businesses he started. He runs an online subscription service offering stock advice to customers and operates Lebed and Lara LLC, a company that manages investor relations Web sites for 15 publicly traded companies.
The 18-year-old registered Independent lives with his parents.
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