Father-and-son fraudsters behind $100M New Jersey deli stock scam sent to prison
The father-and-son fraudsters who pleaded guilty in a $100 million pump-and-dump scheme involving a New Jersey Deli were sentenced to serve jail time on TuesdayPeter Coker Sr.82, received a six-month stint and was also ordered to serve six months of home confinement after his release, as well as pay a $500,000 fine and up to $644,000 in restitution.His 56-year-old son, Peter Coker Jr., was sentenced to 40 months in prison — despite a plea from his lawyer for time served because the former fugitive was allegedly violently beaten in a Thai prison after his arrest.A third man who pleaded guilty in the brazen plot, James Patten, will be sentenced on June 10.Their scheme pushed the market capitalizations of both companies above $100 million each – despite Hometown International owning just a small, money-losing deli in New Jersey, and E-Waste having no business operations at all.The fraud resulted in nearly $5 million in losses, including investments from Duke and Vanderbilt universities.“What is the motivation here other than greed? Because I don’t see it,” Judge Christine O’Hearn asked in US District Court in Camden, noting that all three defendants were worth millions of dollars each – with Coker Sr.’s net worth estimated at $6 million.From 2014 to 2022, the three men coordinated trading of the companies’ stocks to make them appear in high demand — pushing Hometown’s stock price more than 900% higher, and that of E-Waste up nearly 20,000%.Their scheme was exposed in April 2021, when hedge fund manager David Einhorn noted in a letter to clients that Hometown’s deli brought in just $36,000 over the previous two years combined, despite its $100 million valuation.“The pastrami must be amazing,” Einhorn remarked.Coker Jr.
was extradited from Thailand in March 2023 after spending six months on the run before being nabbed.He also has served more than two years in an Essex County jail in New Jersey while awaiting sentencing.“This crime has chan...