Securities Arbitration Lawyers BlogFive Year Sentence For Former Morgan Stanley Broker James Polese
In September, we told you about Morgan Stanley brokers James Polese and 29-year-old Cornelius Peterson, who were found guilty of financial charges ranging from conspiracy to aggravated identity theft. They have both been sentenced in the case.
James Polese has been sentenced to 60 months (five years) in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy, one count of investment adviser fraud and eight counts of bank fraud as well as a charge of aggravated identity theft. The government originally requested 75 months, and the federal guidelines indicate a minimum sentence of 87 months. Polese’s attorney argued for a shorter sentence of 40 months.
Polese was ordered to pay $462,000 in restitution plus a $30,000 fine. After his release from prison, he will be supervised for three years. He will be restricted from working in financial services, and prohibited from drinking alcohol beyond a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.10. The judge recognized Polese’s work towards rehabilitation, which included speaking with two ministers who offered letters of support.
Davila was suspended on April 27, 2018, from associating with any FINRA member firm in any capacity. If Davila fails to request termination of the suspension within three months of the date of the Notice of Suspension, he will automatically be barred on July 6, 2018, from association with any FINRA member in any capacity pursuant to FINRA Rule 9552 (h).
Faraco is the subject of three disclosures. Two are for one specific incident.
Fitz-Gerald is the subject of six disputes, dating back to 1987. The latest, filed on 6/6/2018, is pending, and requesting damages totaling $240,000 and allege, “inter alia, unsuitability with respect to investments in accounts -2014 to 2015.” 
Garapedian has been the subject of three FINRA customer disputes in 2018, all with similar allegations of “unsuitability.” The first one, on 3/20/2018 was denied. The second was filed on 03/22/2018 and involves the period 2013 to 2015, and is listed as “pending.” The third claim, filed on 04/01/18, requests damages of $713,000.00. Garapedian’s statement denies the allegations, and maintains that everything was discussed with the customer prior to any transactions, and the investments recommended were suitable for the client. This claim is also listed as “pending.”
David Olson was with Morgan Stanley’s St. Petersburg, Florida office until January 2017 when he was discharged after an allegation he engaged in an outside business that was not presented to Morgan Stanley for approval and Olson solicited a loan from a client for that venture. This is frequently referred to as 
Thomas Meier (CRD #1146044) was barred from association with any FINRA member in all capacities. Without admitting or denying the findings, Meier consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he effected approximately 1,290 unauthorized transactions, including both purchases and sales of equity securities, in eight accounts belonging to six customers. The findings stated that none of the eight accounts were discretionary accounts and Meier did not have discussions with the customers about the trades prior to the transactions and did not obtain the customers’ authorization prior to executing any of the transactions. Meier received approximately $265,000 in commissions for those transactions. Two of the customers realized losses of approximately $78,000. In addition, there were unrealized losses in the accounts. To-date, Meier’s member firm, Morgan Stanley, has paid a total of approximately $1,087,610 to five of the customers in connection with complaints about Meier. The findings also stated that Meier exercised discretion in five accounts belonging to four separate customers. The findings also included that Meier made inaccurate statements on four annual compliance questionnaires that he did not have any accounts in which business was transacted on a discretionary basis.