New York judge rejects Indiana ex-U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer's request to remain free pending appeal

Former U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer cannot defer his surrender next month to serve a nearly two-year prison sentence resulting from his insider trading conviction because there was overwhelming evidence of his crimes, a federal judge said Monday.

Judge Richard M. Berman ruled there was no substantial question nor any close question of law to warrant letting the Indiana Republican remain free until his appeal is decided. He said prosecutors had presented “compelling testimony and documentary evidence” of Buyer's crimes and “devastating evidence of an attempted cover-up.”

The judge noted that a jury capped a nine-day trial by returning its March verdict in less than four hours. Prosecutors say he made illegal stock trades based on insider information while working as a consultant after serving in the House from 1993 to 2011.

The lawyer and Persian Gulf War veteran once chaired the House Veterans’ Affairs committee and was a House prosecutor at ex-President Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment trial.

At sentencing last month, Berman said Buyer’s conviction by a jury was not a close call because the evidence against him “screams guilty.” The judge said Buyer lied when he testified at his trial about when he learned about mergers that he profited from.

The Noblesville, Indiana, resident is due to report to prison on Nov. 28.

A lawyer for Buyer said Berman’s ruling will be appealed.