A Boca Raton resident, Charles Lawrence Baugh, Sr., has pleaded guilty to securities fraud in the Southern District of Florida. The case involves an insider trading scheme that resulted in profits exceeding $420,000.
Court documents reveal that during a July 4th gathering in 2020, Baugh, aged 60, learned about a forthcoming partnership between Google LLC and ADT Inc. He was informed that Google LLC planned to make a significant investment in ADT. At that time, ADT's shares were publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
The information was disclosed to Baugh by a close family member who held a senior position at ADT. Aware that this was material, non-public information and bound by confidentiality duties, Baugh nonetheless proceeded to purchase approximately 1,000 ADT call options and 800 ADT shares starting on July 6, 2020.
Baugh also engaged in trading ADT securities through accounts of at least two other family members and persuaded two additional family members to invest in ADT securities while the information remained confidential.
When the partnership and investment news became public on August 3, 2020, ADT's share price surged over 50%. Baugh sold all his call options for a profit exceeding $314,000. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit $316,044 from the proceeds he personally gained from the scheme.
Sentencing will occur before Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks at an unspecified future date.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office. The investigation was conducted by the FBI Miami Field Office with assistance from the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), which had previously sued and settled with Baugh.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli S. Rubin is prosecuting the case while Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Paster manages asset forfeiture proceedings.
This conviction marks the fifth insider trading case concluded by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the FBI Miami Field Office in 2025. Previous convictions include United States v. Federico Nannini et al., and United States v. Stephen George.
Further court documents can be accessed via www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 25-cr-80089.
