Ex-trader sentenced for fraudulent Apple stock purchase

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A former securities trader has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for his role in the unauthorized purchase of about $1 billion of Apple stock that led to the demise of the securities firm.

David Miller also was sentenced on Tuesday to three years of supervised release.

The 41-year-old Miller of Rockville Centre, N.Y., pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy and fraud offenses.

Authorities said that as an institutional sales trader for Rochdale Securities LLC of Stamford, Miller conspired to execute a trade to buy 1.6 million shares of Apple stock on behalf of a Rochdale customer whose account Miller handled on the day Apple was scheduled to announce earnings.

Authorities say Miller falsely claimed he mistakenly ordered many multiples of a client's order.

The deal cost Rochdale $5 million.