Former beauty queen jailed for insider trading

Former beauty queen Danielle Chiesi will now be behind the bars.

Chiesi was sentenced to 30 months in prison for her involvement in the largest hedge fund insider trading case in the United States.

She was held guilty on three counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

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According to the Wall Street Journal, Chiesi used her contacts at International Business Machines (IBM), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and other companies to get inside tips while she was working as a consultant to hedge-fund firm New Castle Funds.

She shared the information with Mark Kurland, her former boss and lover, at New Castle Funds. Kurland was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

She also shared the information with other portfolio managers, including Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam, said prosecutors.

Rajaratanam, 54, founder of the Galleon Group, faces a jail sentence of up to 25 years. A total of 21 people have pleaded guilty in this insider trading case.

Chiesi has also been ordered to do 250 hours of community service and pay a $25,000 penalty.

"I know that there's a punishment for persons who do wrong, but it won't happen again," Chiesi said.

Rajaratanam was convicted on fraud and conspiracy after a jury heard secretly tapped telephone conversations of him with Chiesi.

Chiesi's lawyers said she was forced by Mark Kurland to elicit information from executives at reputed companies.