Judge Cohn sentences Larry Wilcox to probation

Whew. Jon Baker made many enemies over the years with all of his arrests, so it wouldn't have been easy in jail. From CNN:

Larry Wilcox, the actor who played Officer Jon Baker on the 1970s TV show "CHiPs," was sentenced Friday to three years probation by a Florida judge for conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Wilcox pleaded guilty in November and had been cooperating with the authorities, according to court documents. In addition to serving three years of probation, he was ordered to perform 500 hours of community service and pay a $100 fine. Along with Erik Estrada as Officer 'Ponch' Poncherello, Wilcox started in the show about two well-coifed, motorcycle-riding California Highway Patrolmen from 1977-1983.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Wilcox in October with paying kickbacks to pension fund managers and brokers to manipulate the volume and price of penny stocks and illegally generate stock sales.
The scheme involved more than a dozen other penny stock promoters and the SEC worked closely with the FBI and authorities in Florida in an investigation that involved "undercover operations."
Wilcox faced a maximum of five years in prison, but Judge James I. Cohn decided he deserved a lighter sentence.

In other news, Dennis Kucinich settled the olive pit case. SFL even got an email from him, and he posted some good pics.

Miami Herald cites SDFLA and SFLawyers!

Pretty cool. Meantime, I can't get the CHiPs theme song out of my head.

Over the weekend, Jay Weaver profiled Eric Bustillo, the SEC chief. It's a nice piece. Here's the intro:

A product of Jesuit schools in Latin America, Eric Bustillo entered Tulane University in fall 1981.
Within months, his bright future would take a dark turn: He and his friends were returning to the New Orleans campus one night when their car swerved to avoid another and slammed into a tree. Bustillo's spinal cord was severed, leaving him paralyzed.
Today, as he sits in a wheelchair in his corner office overlooking Biscayne Bay, Bustillo displays only optimism. A lawyer for more than 20 years, he is director of the Miami regional office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in charge of protecting investors in a region riddled with fraud, from old-fashioned boiler rooms to newfangled Ponzi schemes.
``I could have wallowed in my misfortune, or worked hard, educated myself and not let it become an obstacle,'' said Bustillo, 45, born in New Jersey to Cuban exile parents who moved the family around to Venezuela, Panama and other countries.

Looks like Ponch is going to have a few solo missions on the California Highway Patrol for awhile

SFLawyers previously covered Larry Wilcox's (Jon Baker in CHiPs) case here. He actually pleaded guilty before Judge Cohn today. Here's the actual plea agreement. He's obviously cooperating in this securities fraud case and his sentence is capped at 5 years. He agreed to all of the enhancements in his agreement for a one month conspiracy in 2009, including amount of loss, abuse of trust, sophisticated means, officer/director, and he agreed not to ask for a variance or appeal. So, he will have to hope the government goes to bat for him on his cooperation. If not, he's looking at 2 years by my count.