Back in 1987, a United States marshal walked into the Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) building and arrested senior partner Robert Freeman, 44, the head of Goldman's hugely important risk arbitrage department on the 29th floor. He had no idea that at that moment he'd been fingered by none other than Martin Siegel of Kidder Peabody, who had proved to be something of a goldmine for then-U.S. attorney Rudy Giuliani.

It turned into quite a saga. Giuliani was leading a massive, controversial crusade against insider trading on Wall Street, and Freeman ended up pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud. He spent 4 months in jail, and explained later to his Goldman chums that the threat of a jury trial and the potential huge financial penalties were too much; he had no choice but to make the case go away.

An opinion piece in the Times resurrects the case and holds it up as an example of extreme prosecutorial abuse. In hindsight, the evidence seems flimsy, though not everyone buys the prosecutorial abuse argument. The opinion piece author seems to be advocating for a presidential pardon for Freeman. I doubt he gets it. 

For more:
- here's the New York Times article

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