Tottenham owner Lewis avoids prison, fined $5M for insider trading

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Billionaire Tottenham Hotspur mogul Joe Lewis has avoided prison in an insider trading case, with a New York judge on Thursday instead giving him three years' probation and a $5 million fine.

Judge Jessica Clarke also imposed sweeping restrictions on his company Broadbay, calling his offending "undoubtedly serious" but sparing the 87-year-old businessman from time behind bars.

"I'm here today because I made a terrible mistake. I'm ashamed, I'm sorry," Lewis said in a hushed voice before sentencing, following his guilty plea for supplying insider market information to acquaintances.

Lewis cut a frail figure in the courtroom, dressed in a grey suit with an eyepatch on his left eye.

He was flanked by two lawyers who argued that he should be spared imprisonment because of his failing health and impending eye surgery.

Lewis pleaded for leniency, describing his upbringing at the height of WWII, and promising to make amends "with the time I have left."

Lewis furnished employees, including his private pilots, and lovers with insider information for years in a "brazen" scheme between 2013 and 2021 that raked in millions of dollars.

Stock tips provided by Lewis included confidential information about upcoming favorable test results for biochemical companies, the Manhattan court heard.