Date: April 9th, 2025 8:22 PM
Author: Slap-happy Insane Stage
At the same time, Mickelson was involved in the insider trading investigation surrounding Walters, who was eventually sentenced to five years in prison for utilizing nonpublic information about the Fortune 500 company Dean Foods.
Mickelson made $931,738.12 investing in Dean Foods, but in 2017 refused to testify that Walters did not disclose inside information.
Mickelson had stated previously that Walters did not share insider information prior to the profitable trade, but Mickelson invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and ultimately did not take the stand on behalf of his friend.
“According to our mutual friend, here is the message he delivered to Phil: ‘This is Bill’s life at stake. This is his freedom. He could potentially go to prison for a long time. He would like you to just say the truth: That Bill never gave you inside information.’
“‘Okay, I’ll do it,’ Phil told him.
“‘Are you positive?’ our friend asked. ‘Because when you leave, I’m going to call Bill.’
“Phil reiterated that he would issue a statement.
“But he never did,” Walters wrote.
In the midst of both investigations, Walters claims that Mickelson hired well-connected D.C. attorney Gregory Craig, who struck a deal with the SEC that ultimately cleared Mickelson’s name.
In exchange for paying the total of his trading profits ($931,738.12 plus $105,291.69 interest) back to the SEC, Mickelson was named a “relief defendant” and was absolved of any wrongdoing.
Walters writes that Mickelson’s attorney “performed a legal trick so improbable that it was like Harry Houdini pulling a rabbit out of a hat while in chains underwater.”
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5708332&forum_id=2#48833028)