The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from former Republican Rep. Stephen Buyer seeking to overturn his 2023 insider trading conviction.
Buyer, who represented Indiana in Congress, was found guilty on four federal charges related to profiting from confidential information obtained while working as a telecommunications consultant after leaving office. He has maintained his innocence throughout the legal process.
What Happened
Federal prosecutors said Buyer used nonpublic information to execute profitable stock trades before that information entered the public domain. A federal appeals court upheld his conviction last year, but Buyer’s legal team pursued the matter further.
In his Supreme Court petition, Buyer’s lawyers challenged whether stock trades executed on exchanges headquartered in Manhattan provided sufficient legal grounds for prosecution in the Southern District of New York. “Today, while the New York Stock Exchange still has its physical headquarters in Manhattan, most trading no longer occurs on its floors; instead, trades execute electronically on computer servers located elsewhere,” his attorneys wrote.
The Court’s Decision
Prosecutors argued that Buyer’s challenge amounted to a “factbound objection” regarding trial evidence that did not warrant Supreme Court review. The Justice Department stated that lower courts properly relied on evidence showing at least some of Buyer’s trades were executed within the Southern District jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court’s rejection of the appeal leaves his conviction intact and closes a significant legal avenue for the former lawmaker.
This story has been updated. CNN’s legal team contributed to this report.
