BlackBerry Z10

Remember back when BlackBerry 10 launched and Detwiler Fenton claimed that Z10 devices were being returned in unusually high numbers? Well, as we reported back in February via a report from the Boston Business Journal, James Dunham, the former chief operating officer of Connecticut company Wireless Zone, was arrested for secretly selling confidential sales and product information to the Boston financial firm, ultimately causing BlackBerry's stock price to fall 7 percent in one day. Now, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock in Boston has sentenced Dunham to five months in prison, five months of home confinement after his prison term plus, he'll be required to pay $76,000 according to a new report from Reuters.

A former wireless retail executive was sentenced to five months in prison Tuesday for selling confidential industry information to an analyst whose subsequent 2013 report on sales of BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO)'s newest smartphone sent the company's stock price downward. James Dunham, 60, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock in Boston to serve five months of home confinement after his prison term and to pay $76,000 in light of his June guilty plea to a wire fraud charge.

The sentence was confirmed by the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz in Boston and came in the first case spilling out of its investigations into the black market for secret corporate information that exists outside of insider trading.Dunham, a resident of Glastonbury, Connecticut, was the former chief operating officer of Wireless Zone, which operates more than 400 franchise Verizon Wireless outlets. According to prosecutors and court papers, Dunham entered a secret consulting relationship with an analyst at Boston-based financial firm Detwiler Fenton in 2010 to provide wireless industry information in exchange for $2,000 per month.

At the time, BlackBerry understandably took issue with the claims and stated they were absolutely false and sought a US and Canadian review of the claims through Securities and Exchange Commission and Ontario Securities Commission and while any results from those requests are unclear, Dunham certainly is paying for his actions now.

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