Pittsburgh-area man pleads guilty to insider trading of Dick's Sporting Goods securities

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A Gibsonia man accused of making more than $800,000 from insider trading of Dick's Sporting Goods securities pleaded guilty, federal prosecutors announced on Thursday. 

Sixty-two-year-old Frank Poerio pleaded guilty to four counts of securities fraud in front of a district judge, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan said in a news release. 

Prosecutors said Poerio used sensitive, material non-public information he got from a data analytics employee at Dick's, which is headquartered in Moon Township, to make 160 trades of the company's securities on the New York Stock Exchange. 

"Frank Poerio admitted to gaming the system by using material non-public information from a company employee to conduct well more than a hundred trades over the course of several years that resulted in nearly a million dollars in profit," Olshan said in a news release. 

"Our office is dedicated to working with our law enforcement partners and fellow agencies to protect the integrity of our public trading systems and ensure that anyone who cheats those systems to score easy profits is held accountable under the law."

FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said insider trading "erodes the foundation of our economy and undermines public trust in our institutions."   

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 31. At each count, prosecutors said Poerio faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a $5 million fine or both.