Man ordered to federal prison for insider trading in Disney-Marvel deal

A San Francisco man was sentenced Thursday to three months in federal prison for profiting from insider trading when the Walt Disney Co. purchased Marvel Entertainment in a $4-billion deal.

Toby Scammell, 29, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and ordered to begin serving his sentence Sept. 22.

He was also ordered to pay about $122,500 to brokers who sold him stock options, and upon his release, to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $801,000 in a related civil action filed by the agency, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Federal prosecutors said Scammell learned about Disney’s plans to acquire Marvel through his then-girlfriend, who worked at Disney in 2009. He also learned through a supervisor at his own firm, which had occasionally provided corporate counseling services to Disney, that the company had previously been interested in acquiring Marvel.

He used the information to make more than $192,000 in profit.

Scammell pleaded guilty in April to one count of securities fraud through insider trading. He is expected to be monitored electronically and confined to his home for six months after he is released from prison.

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