Gibsonia Man Sentenced for Insider Trading of Dick’s Sporting Goods Securities

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A resident of Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 12 months and one day in prison, to be followed by three months of home detention and 12 months of supervised release, on his conviction of securities fraud, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today. The defendant also was ordered to pay a fine of $20,000 and restitution in the amount of $823,367 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan imposed the sentence on Frank T. Poerio Jr., 63.

According to information presented to the Court, Poerio used sensitive, material non-public information (MNPI) obtained from a Dick's Sporting Goods (Dick's) employee to engage in 160 trades of the company's securities on the New York Stock Exchange. These transactions included the purchase of individual shares and call option contracts and occurred between August 2019 and May 2021, when the insider worked in a data analytics role at the company's corporate offices in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. The trades netted approximately $823,000 in profits for Poerio, who often spoke with the employee about finances and investing. Several of the trading incidents occurred in the days immediately preceding Dick's release of periodic earnings statements-so called "blackout" periods, when Dick's employees were prohibited from trading in the company's securities.

Poerio pleaded guilty to the charges in July 2024 (read the plea news release here).

Assistant United States Attorney Gregory C. Melucci prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Poerio.