APNewsBreak: DeCinces indicted for insider trading

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Former Baltimore Orioles all-star Doug DeCinces and three others were indicted Wednesday on insider trading charges for using and profiting from information prior to the takeover of an Orange County medical device company, authorities said.

DeCinces, 62, was charged with 42 counts of securities fraud and one count of money laundering. Each of the securities fraud counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. DeCinces is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 17.

In 2008, DeCinces was told by a close friend and official at Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. that Abbott Laboratories planned to pay $21 to $23 per share of the company's stock, prosecutors said. At the time, Advanced Medical Optics was trading about $8 a share.

DeCinces began buying Advance Medical's stock, based on that information, and also passed along the takeover details to three friends because he wanted to make up for previous investment recommendations that had gone bad, prosecutors said.

Once Abbott's offer was made public, DeCinces sold his newly purchased shares and profited about $1.3 million, court documents show. Abbott acquired Advanced Medical Optics in January 2009.

DeCinces' three friends also each bought and then sold Advanced Medical's stock and made anywhere from $140,000 to nearly $350,000. Each of the friends was indicted on insider trading and fraud charges.

The Securities and Exchange Commission previously filed a civil lawsuit against DeCinces that was settled last year when the former major leaguer agreed to pay $2.5 million.

A phone message left for DeCinces' attorney, Gordon Greenberg, was not immediately returned.

Also ensnared in the insider trading case was Hall of Famer and DeCinces former teammate Eddie Murray who agreed in August to pay nearly $360,000 to settle federal civil charges. Federal investigators said DeCinces also told Murray about the impending takeover, although Murray neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.

DeCinces was a third baseman during 15 seasons with the Orioles, the California Angels and the St. Louis Cardinals.