NEW YORK (AP) — A former Goldman Sachs trader wassentenced on Friday to nine months in prison for
wire fraud by a judgewho took sharp aim at both Goldman and the government, questioning whyit took them so
long to bring the misconduct to light.MatthewTaylor had admitted in a guilty plea this year that he
concealed anunauthorized $8.3 billion trading position in 2007. He told Goldmanwithin 36 hours but escaped
criminal charges until this year."Goldman was silent about Taylor’s lies," U.S. District Judge
William Pauley said in federal court in Manhattan.Theinvestment banking firm fired Taylor but didn’t
disclose the fullextent of his misconduct, clearing the way for him to continue as atrader for Morgan
Stanley for another four years, the judge said."So much for Goldman’s concerns about the credibility of
the financial markets," he said.Thejudge also suggested the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan
andfederal regulators went after the rogue trader years after his offenselargely for publicity. He accused
prosecutors of crafting anartificially low sentencing recommendation to secure a quick plea
deal."Everythingabout this case is sad," the judge said. "Your employer’s response wassad.
Your conduct was sad. The government’s conduct — it’s sad."Thejudge said that by his own calculations
of sentencing guidelines,Taylor could have received several years behind bars for making GoldmanSachs suffer
a $118 million loss. But too much time had passed for thatto make sense, he added."Justice has to be
swift to mean anything," he said.Alongwith the nine-month prison term, the judge ordered the MIT
graduate tocomplete 400 hours of community service by tutoring children fromlow-income families in math.A
Goldman spokesman responded Fridayby insisting that it had filed timely paperwork reporting that Taylorwas
fired for "inappropriately large proprietary futures positions in afirm trading account."The U.S.
attorney’s office said in astatement it learned of Taylor’s fraud in November 2012 and charged himless than
five months later, in April 2013.Taylor, 35, of WestPalm Beach, Fla., has said he accumulated and concealed
the massivetrading position to enhance his reputation within Goldman and secure abigger bonus. On Friday, he
told the judge he was trying to set his lifestraight by starting a small pool-cleaning company to support
his wifeand two young children."I can’t undo what happened," he said, "… but I do offer a
very sincere apology."Taylor will remain out on bail until early February, when he was ordered to begin
his sentence.___Follow Hays on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APtomhaysCopyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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