He should have been a senator

A Harvard-trained physician was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for evading $30 million in investment losses by obtaining inside information from a fellow doctor.

Joseph "Chip" Skowron III apologized to his wife and friends in a packed Manhattan courtroom before U.S. District Judge Denise Cote announced the sentence.

Turning around to look at his wife in the first row of spectators, Skowron said she was the most harmed by his insider trading venture, which helped him avoid millions of dollars in losses.

"I am not what she expected when she married a young doctor 15 years ago," he said.

The 42-year-old Greenwich, Conn., resident pleaded guilty in August to conspiring to commit securities fraud and obstructing justice.

He called the last year "devastating" and "incredible" with glimpses of the best parts of humanity emerging from the most unexpected of circumstances.

"I was not aware of the changes that were happening in me that blurred the line between right and wrong," he said. "I allowed myself to slip into the world of relativism where the ends justified the means."

Skowron admitted gaining an advantage in his work as a hedge fund analyst in 2007 and 2008 by using tips gained through meetings and conversations with a French doctor who knew inside information about clinical drug trials.

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