Stuart Slotnick Quoted in New York Times, the UK's Guardian on Rajaratnam Sentencing

Fallen hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam's sentence will reflect the changing attitudes toward financial crimes, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's Stuart Slotnick told The New York Times in an article published September 19, 2011. The article was also picked up by the Associated Press and Wall Street & Technology magazine.

Earlier this year, a jury convicted Rajaratnam of 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy, and federal prosecutors are seeking a prison term of up to 24 years.

Slotnick predicts the sentencing judge will put the ex-Galleon Group head in jail for 12 to 15 years. Though not as lengthy a term as the one sought by the government, such a sentence will be a record for an insider trading conviction.

"There is a 'Wall Street is bad' mentality that permeates the culture," Slotnick explained. "It's now in the social ether that financial crimes of whatever kind cause widespread damage and hurt everybody."

In post-trial comments to a court probation officer, Rajaratnam made inflammatory comments that would "absolutely count against him" in sentencing, Slotnick said in a the Guardian article published September 13, 2011.

Slotnick explained judges' sentencing guidelines as being influenced by a points system with defendants being rewarded for cooperation and punished for high-level involvement in the crime.

"The guidelines are only advisory, but acceptance of responsibility will be the centrepiece of the prosecution's argument that he should get a higher sentence," Slotnick told the UK's Guardian newspaper. "Without question, [Rajaratnam's comments are] going to make it a lot worse for him."