Fmr. Amazon analyst sentenced to prison for insider trading

A former Amazon financial analyst has been sentenced to six months in prison and a $2,500 fine after admitting he tipped off a college friend to details about the company's upcoming first-quarter earnings report in spring 2015.

Brett D. Kennedy was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to a federal insider trading charge in September.

Prosecutors said his former fraternity brother at the University of Washington, Maziar Rezakhani, used the information to make $116,000 trading stock and paid Kennedy $10,000. The SEC alleged that Kennedy and Rezakhani planned to start their own hedge fund in New York with their windfall from successful trades.

Kennedy gave up the $10,000 in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kennedy had worked as a financial analyst at Amazon since 2013.

He apologized to the company for abusing its trust and to his parents for letting them down.

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Rezakhani was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud in a separate case, Reuters reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.