SAC Capital pleads guilty in insider case SAC Capital Advisors pleaded guilty Friday to securities fraud, ending one battle with the U.S. over insider trading as prosecutors prepare for trials of two SAC managers that may yet put its founder, Steven A. Cohen, in jeopardy. SAC General Counsel Peter Nussbaum entered the guilty plea to securities fraud and wire fraud on behalf of the fund before U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in federal court in Manhattan. Cohen didn't attend the hearing. SAC also agreed to pay a record $1.8 billion and shutter its investment advisory business as part of an accord announced Nov. 4 to end both a criminal prosecution and a federal money-laundering suit brought by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. The company, indicted in July, was "a veritable magnet for market cheaters" in an insider-trading scheme that dated back to 1999, Bharara said. The fund was being held responsible for insider trading by at least eight current or former portfolio managers and analysts who worked there, Bharara said. Nussbaum expressed "deep remorse" for SAC individuals who broke the law. "The fact is that even one person crossing the line into illegal activity is too many," Nussbaum told the judge. Cohen, 57, who founded SAC in 1992, wasn't charged in the indictment of the Stamford, Conn.-based firm. He still faces a pending administrative action filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for his alleged failure to supervise the hedge fund's activities. Separately, a former California technology analyst pleaded guilty Friday to insider trading charges in a cooperation deal with the government, admitting that he told secrets to an SAC Capital portfolio manager and others in 2009 about a blockbuster deal between Microsoft and Yahoo. Sandeep Aggarwal, 40, entered the plea to conspiracy and securities fraud charges, telling U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis that he passed along tips he learned from a former colleague at Microsoft Corp. about plans the company had to create a search engine advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc. The plea settled charges brought against Aggarwal when he was arrested in July in San Jose. Aggarwal said he was working as a senior analyst at the San Francisco office of research firm Collins Stewart when he provided inside information "to improve my standing as an analyst" and to boost the company's revenues. Collins Stewart has since been acquired by the Vancouver-based Canaccord Financial Inc. He choked up as he told the judge: "I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I am extremely sorry for my actions." His cooperation deal with the government could bring him substantial leniency for charges that otherwise would carry a potential prison sentence of up to 25 years. A tentative sentencing date was set for May 14. During his plea, Aggarwal admitted providing tips to Richard Lee, a former SAC portfolio manager who pleaded guilty in July and is cooperating with law enforcement. In wiretap evidence described in a criminal complaint, Aggarwal is heard telling Lee that he had spoken to "a senior guy at Microsoft" who had been "very, very accurate in the past in terms of ... telling me what's going on."