Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 25, 1990 TAG: 9004250098
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Milken, 43, broke down before the packed Manhattan courtroom as he finished a lengthy statement outlining his crimes, which included illegal trading with stock speculator Ivan Boesky and others from 1984-86.
Milken faces a maximum 28 years in prison at his scheduled Oct. 1 sentencing, although legal experts expect a term of around five years.
The plea marked a stunning victory in the government's crackdown on Wall Street crime that already included more than 30 convictions and targeted Milken and his former employer, Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., from its outset in 1986.
Milken pioneered the use of high-yield, high-risk debt securities known as junk bonds that gave small companies access to billions of dollars and made possible the wave of hostile corporate takeovers that characterized the dog-eat-dog 1980s. His downfall began after he was linked to an insider trading network by Boesky, who received a three-year prison term and was fined $100 million in 1986 to settle his own case.
Milken was indicted on 98 counts of fraud and racketeering in March 1989, but vigorously maintained his innocence. He reversed course last week and agreed to the plea bargain, avoiding a long, costly trial and the prospect of a much stiffer prison term.
The government dropped all charges against Milken's brother, Lowell, who was named in the indictment. The status of former Drexel trader Bruce Newberg, also part of the original case, was not yet resolved.
by CNB