Judge Denies Boesky Plea for Early Prison Release

A federal judge refused to let convicted stock speculator Ivan F. Boesky out of prison Wednesday, saying the three-year sentence he got in Wall Street’s biggest insider trading scandal “is not unjust.”

Boesky, who has already served a year in prison, claimed that his help led to a record plea bargain deal by Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. and the subsequent indictment of its “junk bond” chief Michael Milken and others on racketeering and securities fraud charges.

Two weeks ago, Boesky’s lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Morris E. Lasker to reduce his sentence to time already served, which would allow his immediate release.

But Lasker said Boesky has already been given a number of breaks and “I cannot in good conscience conclude” that “he should be given further credit.”

Boesky’s lawyers did not immediately return telephone calls for comment on Lasker’s decision.

The judge noted that although Boesky admitted to participating in numerous shady deals, he was allowed to plead guilty to just one count, which carried a maximum five-year sentence and for which Lasker only sentenced him to three years.

Lasker also noted that even without any actions by him or the parole board, “Boesky will be released from custody less than a year from today, which is to say, that the actual period he will have served will be slightly more than two years. Such a sentence is not unjust in the circumstances.”

Boesky has supplied information used for civil or criminal charges in more than a dozen cases in the United States and Britain. In exchange, Boesky was allowed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to lie to the SEC.