All 11 of the Black Friday defendants entered guilty pleas and received very light sentences. The longest period of imprisonment meted out was just three years although several of the accused had to pay substantial fines.
None of the Black Friday indictments resulted in a criminal trial. This evidences a determination on the part of the government to not risk the vicissitudes that a jury trial might entail, including probable “not guilty” verdicts. Prosecutors preferred to threaten the defendants with multiple decades in prison so as to convince them to make plea deals, which all 11 of them did in order to see the other charges against them dropped.