A week later, the SEC filed a civil suit, asking for financial penalties and the return of any gains she made illegally. It also asked that Argo be barred from ever serving as an officer or director of a public company. A settlement is expected to be reached this month, according to court filings.
Argo was arraigned in New York on the criminal charges in October, having paid a $500,000 bond to remain free. There, before Judge Rakoff, she pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud.
"The CEO asked me to report October 1, 2001, as the date on which his options had been approved ... even though I knew this was untrue," she told the court. "In causing these filings to be inaccurate, I acted willfully and with intent to defraud."
Argo went home knowing she had only a few months of assured freedom left to organize her affairs. She hadn't even told her widowed mother about the indictment.
She still hadn't told her by the time of the January sentencing.
No explanation
After Rakoff announced Argo's punishment, the courtroom took a collective breath. She stood to speak.
She would offer no explanation to supplement those she had given in court, leaving unanswered the question, Why?
She began: "I spent my entire life trying to be a person of good character, and that's why I'm so sorry that my actions have caused harm. ...
"I especially want to apologize to my family and my friends for letting them down and causing them so much pain," she said, choking on the words. "I've tried to set a good example for my children, and I'm trying to do so here also, and really teaching them that when a person makes a mistake that you have to accept responsibility, and I'm definitely doing that."
Argo's sister, Cynthia Jones, who relied on her sister for financial support after her husband died, shepherded Argo out of the courtroom, her arm protectively wrapped around her.
Caputo and several others are being sued by shareholders, but no one other than Argo has faced either criminal or civil charges. Argo was just the fourth executive nationwide to receive a felony conviction for backdating and the third to receive jail time. Her colleagues took in $4 million from the backdating, according to court filings.
Argo reported to Alderson Federal Prison Camp, the same West Virginia facility where Martha Stewart was imprisoned, in late February, earlier than ordered. That assured she'll be home before the start of the next school year.
