Judge to Rule on Plea Deals of Executives in OxyContin Case
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A plea agreement had been reached in May between prosecutors and the former Purdue Pharma executives, but affected families are urging prison time.
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Nicole Richie will have to decide Wednesday whether to accept a plea deal offered by prosecutors in her driving-under-the-influence case, according to a court spokesman.
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Newmont Mining Co. officials said Wednesday they are considering a lawsuit against Indonesian police over the jailing of five company executives during a pollution investigation.
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(InfoWorld) - The practice of manipulating stock options grants to make them more favorable has come back to haunt yet another round of high-tech executives. A former Monster Worldwide Inc. executive is expected to agree to a plea deal in New York Thursday, just a day after the founder of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. pleaded guilty to a state felony related to backdating. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan would not comment specifically on a Wall Street Journal report that Monster's former general counsel, Myron Olesnyckyj, will cooperate with its investigation into stock options practices at the company. However, a spokeswoman confirmed that there will be a court proceeding Thursday related to stock options at 12:45 PM ET and the office expects to release more information afterwards. Monster declined to comment beyond releasing the following statement: "The Company terminated this individual some time ago and it is inappropriate to comment on the developments. The Company will continue to cooperate with the government in this ongoing investigation." The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Wednesday said that it simultaneously filed and settled civil charges against Ryan Brant, the former CEO and chairman of Take-Two, a video and computer game publisher and distributor, which he founded. The SEC alleged that during a seven-year period, Brant enriched himself and others by granting undisclosed, "in the money" stock options to himself and to other Take-Two officers and employees. Brant did not admit or deny the allegations, the SEC said, but agreed to a settlement that bars him from serving as the officer or director of a public company. He also agreed to pay about US$6.3 million, comprised of what the SEC called "ill-gotten gains" of more than $4 million plus $1 million interest, plus a $1 million civil penalty. The settlement must still be approved in court. A Take-Two representative said only that Brant is no longer an employee, and it would not be appropriate to comment on his actions as a private individual. Meanwhile, middleware vendor BEA Systems Inc. Wednesday announced the conclusion of its stock-option review. The review won't cost any high-level executives their job, but will cost a number of them money. Several former and current executives and directors have agreed to repay the company after-tax profits they realized on mispriced options.
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A European Union judge is due to  decide this week if antitrust sanctions imposed on Microsoft   should be suspended -- a move the software giant hopes would  lead to new settlement talks.
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Merck &amp; Co., seeking to keep managers from leaving after the withdrawal of its Vioxx painkiller, adopted a plan to give severance payments to more than 200 executives should control of the company change.
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A former executive at the Gaithersburg biotechnology firm MedImmune Inc. is scheduled to plead guilty today to criminal charges related to his allegedly improper stock trades, according to court papers.
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ATLANTA - Lawyers for Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis are negotiating a plea deal in his drug conspiracy case that would allow him to serve jail time in the offseason, a source close to the case told The Associated Press on Saturday.    Under a deal being discussed with federal prosecutors, Lewis would serve four to six months - possibly split between jail and a halfway house - after the season, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity...
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The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear a case on whether judges can consider the alleged unfairness of a federal law regarding sentences for selling crack and powder cocaine when deciding on jail time for such crimes.
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The federal judge imposed fines, probation and community service on three executives who pleaded guilty in May to misleading the public about the addiction risk posed by the pain medication.
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Doctors prescribing opioids in doses that seems high to narcotics agents and prosecutors are at risk of a trial. And once in the courtroom, anything can happen.
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A federal judge agreed with a Tampa executive's claim that the antidepressant Paxil prompted him to embezzle $1.8 million from a former employer.
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A judge is considering if tobacco companies should be tried on whether they deceived smokers about the safety of light cigarettes.
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Agency commissioners hope to issue a final ruling on the deal by the end of the month.
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A judge was charged Wednesday with accepting bribes to give preferential treatment to a bail-bonding company, part of a widening corruption scandal that has already landed one judge in prison.
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InfoWorld - The practice of manipulating stock options grants to make them more favorable has come back to haunt yet another round of high-tech executives. A former Monster Worldwide Inc. executive is expected to agree to a plea deal in New York Thursday, just a day after the founder of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. pleaded guilty to a state felony related to backdating.
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TORONTO (CP) - The Ontario Securities Commission&#39;s days may be numbered as both police officer and judge in cases of financial-market wrongdoing.