Steve Buyer was a longtime member of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana. A Republican, he was initially elected from the state's 5th District. After a round of re-districting, he was moved to the 4th District.
Buyer would become one of the most prominent members of the House serving as both the chairman and the ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. He was also a prosecutor during the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. But the now perhaps ironically named Buyer finds himself in decidedly different circumstances.
Convicted on four counts of insider trading
The Lafayette Journal & Courier reports that Steve Buyer has been found guilty of insider trading. Buyer committed the offenses after he left Congress. Fox 59 notes that he was working as a lobbyist and consultant at the time.
Buyer initially made his illegal moves regarding the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint Corporation. He had learned of the plans while playing golf with a T-Mobile executive. Quickly, he bought well over $500,000 worth of Sprint stock. After the merger was publicly announced, he sold his shares, netting a profit of more than $125,000.
The following year, Buyer learned that Guidehouse LLP was planning to purchase Navigant Consulting.
He knew of this via a Guidehouse sales director. In short order, he acquired over $1 million of Navigant stock. After the Guidehouse-Navigant acquisition went public, Buyer went about selling his shares. Eventually, making a net profit in the neighborhood of $230,000.
Charges were brought against Buyer in July of 2022 regarding his stock moves.
At the same time, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York also filed charges. Jury members deliberated for roughly three hours before coming back with their verdict. Buyer is expected to be sentenced in July of 2023.
According to Law360, Buyer’s defense attorney Daniel Alonso argued during the trial that Buyer’s profits in the market were just a fortunate coincidence.
Buyer was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, defeating Democratic incumbent Jim Jontz. Starting in 1987, Buyer had been serving as the deputy attorney general of Indiana.
He would win another eight terms in the House. Due to re-districting, Buyer faced fellow U.S. Representative Brian Kerns in the 2002 Republican primary. Buyer prevailed and later won the general election in a landslide.
Along with Veterans' Affairs, Buyer served on three other House Committees. Including the Armed Service Committee, he chaired its Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
Buyer did not run for re-election in 2010. Republican Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita won the race to succeed him.
Is a veteran of the Gulf War
Steve Buyer is a native of Rensselaer in northwestern Indiana. He would later graduate from North White High School in nearby Monon. There, Buyer would become the president of his class.
Eventually, Buyer joined the United States Army and entered its Judge Advocate General's Corps. He would be deployed to serve in the Gulf War. Buyer ultimately retired from the Army, holding the rank of colonel.
