Ex-CEO pleads guilty to insider trading

Readying to defend himself on insider trading charges at trial in New Jersey, the former CEO of Home Diagnostics Corp. reportedly cut a plea deal and abruptly pleaded guilty.

George Holley, a 72-year-old resident of Norwalk, had also been charged with obstructing justice when he was indicted in February 2011. He had been free on $3 million bail since, and now faces sentencing in early December.

“We felt that the plea agreement that was arrived at during trial was an appropriate, fair resolution of the case,” Holley”™s defense attorney Kevin Marino told Bloomberg News.

Holley admitted to disclosing material information to five people regarding Nipro Corp.”™s acquisition of the diabetes management company Home Diagnostics Inc., which he founded and led, with the company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

After the $215 million Nipro deal was announced, Home Diagnostics shares spiked nearly 90 percent, with individuals tipped off by Holley reaping $290,000 in gains.