Ex-AMO chief Mazzo wins second mistrial in insider trading case

Former Advanced Medical Optics CEO James Mazzo this week reportedly won a second mistrial on insider trading charges relating to AMO’s $2.8 billion acquisition by Abbott (NYSE:ABT) in 2009.

Federal prosecutors in 2014 accused Mazzo of tipping a close friend and neighbor, former Orioles player Doug DeCinces, about the then-pending merger (Abbott sold the business to Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) for $4.33 billion last year). DeCinces allegedly passed that information on to former teammate Eddie Murray, who later agreed to settle his case for $358,000 but admitted no wrongdoing; DeCinces agreed in 2011 to pony up $2.5 million (but admitted no guilt) to settle similar charges leveled by the SEC.

Judge Andrew Guilford of the Central California court in May 2017 declared a mistrial in Mazzo’s case after a jury deadlocked over the charges against him. But that jury also convicted DeCinces and a business associate on charges of tender offer fraud, despite deadlocking on other charges against DeCinces and all of the charges against Mazzo.

Mazzo, now global ophthalmology president at Carl Zeiss Meditec (ETR:AFX) after a 3-year run as president and CEO at AcuFocus, had argued that there is “no evidence” of him “lying, cheating, or hiding anything.”

This week a new jury once again hit a deadlock, prompting Judge Andrew Guilford of the U.S. District Court for Central California to declare a mistrial Feb. 21, the L.A. Times reported.

U.S. attorney’s office spokesman said yesterday that prosecutors haven’t decided whether to bring a third case against Mazzo, according to the newspaper.

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