Appeals Court Upholds Ex-Wall Street Programmer’s Conviction

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state's highest court has upheld the conviction of a former Goldman Sachs programmer who was tried twice for stealing confidential computer code used to run high-frequency trading.

In a unanimous decision Thursday, the Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's decision to reinstate Sergey Aleynikov's May 2015 jury conviction on charges of illegally using secret material.

The now-48-year-old Russian-born programmer was first arrested in 2009 on federal charges and was found guilty three years later. He spent a year in prison before an appellate court overturned that conviction.

Aleynikov's lawyers maintain he violated Goldman Sachs confidentiality rules, not the law. His lawyer Kevin Marino says he'll file a motion to have the conviction set aside.

Aleynikov faces up to four years in prison.