Stock Message Board Poster Elgindy Faces Jail Time Following Guilty Plea

A federal case against a high-profile message board stock-picker wound to a close last week when Anthony Elgindy pleaded guilty to a fraud charge.

The conviction renews credibility questions about the self-styled scam-stock vigilante, whose brushes with securities regulators have been chronicled here in the past. But the latest development only reinforced his followers' faith in Elgindy, a San Diego-based short-seller who gained notoriety for his colorful posts on stock message board Silicon Investor.

Elgindy, 32, pleaded guilty on Feb. 24 on one count of mail fraud under a nine-count indictment handed up last year to the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas. The charges related to checks Elgindy allegedly received from Bear Stearns (BSC Quote) and Barron Chase Securities while he was simultaneously receiving disability benefits from MassMutual. A trial was to begin this month on the charges.

Elgindy, who faces sentencing on May 15, is likely to do about six months in prison, followed by probation, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis says. Elgindy's lawyer didn't immediately return calls seeking comment. ...