Key facts
- The SEC is dismissing its insider trading lawsuit against Terren Peizer.
- Peizer was convicted of insider trading and securities fraud in 2024.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to dismiss its insider trading lawsuit against Terren Peizer, a former healthcare executive who was convicted and later pardoned by President Donald Trump.
The dismissal of the SEC's civil case against Terren Peizer follows his presidential pardon, raising questions about the application of justice and potential double standards in the legal system.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Friday that it is moving to dismiss its insider trading lawsuit against Terren Peizer, a former healthcare executive. Peizer, 65, was convicted of insider trading and securities fraud by a federal jury in Los Angeles in 2024, and subsequently sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in 2025. He had been charged by the Department of Justice in 2023 with insider trading, with the SEC launching parallel civil charges. Authorities had described the charges as groundbreaking, marking the first criminal case involving a pre-arranged stock-selling program designed to shield executives. Peizer sold over $20 million of Ontrak stock between May and August 2021 while possessing material non-public negative information about the company's largest customer. President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Peizer in January of this year. Peizer was a protege of Michael Milken, who was also pardoned by Trump in 2020 after a securities fraud conviction.
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