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by Mike Caswell

Ashmit Patel, an Ontario lawyer who pleaded guilty to charges in the United States for an OTC Markets pump-and-dump, has asked the judge to spare him jail. He says that he became involved in the scheme because of the "negative influence of people he trusted" and says that he will be "more selective with the people he surrounds himself with." He also points out that he has no criminal record and claims that he was a minor participant in the pump-and-dump.

The request from Mr. Patel, 39, comes as part of a case in which federal prosecutors cited him for a scheme with VMS Rehab Systems Inc., a supposed maker of specialty seat cushions. He was part of a group that boosted VMS and other listings with claims like "this stock could catapult by up to 155%." As those claims were going out, the group was secretly dumping millions of shares, some through unregistered offshore sales, according to prosecutors. Mr. Patel unloaded $1.1-million worth of stock during the scheme, according to the government. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.)

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