Three former minor league baseball players who pleaded guilty to profiting from inside information involving Del Taco stock were sentenced in San Diego federal court Friday to credit for time served.
Jordan Joseph Qsar, Grant Lee Witherspoon, and Austin Lane Bernard purchased Del Taco stock, then sold the shares after Qsar learned that Jack in the Box was acquiring Del Taco.
Prosecutors say Qsar learned of the acquisition from a friend who personally worked on the Del Taco deal as a senior associate in Jack in the Box’s strategic finance department. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Qsar then shared that information with Witherspoon and Bernard, whom he knew through playing minor league baseball in the Tampa Bay Rays’ system and college baseball at Pepperdine University.
The trio then purchased Del Taco stock and sold it in the days after the acquisition went public in late 2021, netting them between $42,768 and $64,693.
The tip spread beyond just the three.
More than a dozen other people who profited from the information were also not charged “because it was difficult to assess their intent,” prosecutors wrote.
Qsar’s Jack in the Box friend faced no criminal charges either.
In prosecutors’ sentencing documents, they wrote that Qsar’s friend was not criminally charged because it was not clear that he intended to commit insider trading.
The discovery of the scheme came when Qsar’s friend received a list of people who had traded in Del Taco securities.
It appears from the complaint that Qsar also lost his friendship with the Jack in the Box executive, who received a list of people who had traded in Del Taco securities and it included Qsar and Witherspoon, the SEC said.
All three players pleaded guilty on April 28.
Three former professional baseball players pleaded guilty today, April 28, to conspiracy to commit insider trading in Del Taco stock after learning that San Diego-based fast-food giant Jack in the Box was buying the taco chain.
U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath’s statement at the time of charges made the government’s position clear.
“The system has to be fair for everyone, or the market fails,” stated U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath at the time of the 2024 indictment. “Those who seek to undermine this system for personal gain will face consequences.”
In the viral moment that exposed the scheme,
the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Jordan Qsar, 28; Grant Witherspoon, 27; and Austin Bernard, 28, in March 2024 after the trio earned nearly $190,000 using inside information to buy Del Taco stock ahead of Jack in the Box’s 2021 acquisition.
In the following months, after learning the inside information, Qsar, Witherspoon, and Bernard purchased Del Taco stocks, discussed when and how many shares they were purchasing, and tipped others with the inside information.
According to the indictment, after Jack in the Box and Del Taco went public with the acquisition on December 6, 2021, Del Taco stocks jumped in price from $7.53 to $12.51 per share—representing a 66 percent increase from the prior trading day’s closing price.
The sentence of time served means the three players will not face additional prison time beyond what they’ve already served while awaiting trial and sentencing.