Ex-Goldman Banker Asks to Be Spared Prison for Insider Trading

A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker asked a federal judge not to send him to prison for insider trading, citing “draconian” sentencing guidelines as well as the risk he would face as a chronic asthma patient from exposure to the coronavirus.

Bryan Cohen’s request comes on the heels of a judge’s decision Tuesday to grant the banker’s wish for a quick sentencing hearing to be held by videoconference. U.S. District Judge William Pauley set the date for June 4, after Cohen said waiting to be sentenced has been “agonizing.”

On Wednesday, Cohen asked to be sentenced to time served, ...