The plea discussions were disclosed in a letter from prosecutors seeking to delay a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Plea discussions ensued and Mr. Brownlee ultimately agreed that the three executives would not have to do jail time.
As the jury deliberations continued, another insider trading defendant, meanwhile, was expected to plead guilty, while a second was in plea discussions.
Judges "cannot stay completely removed from all matters touching upon plea discussions," the brief said, and so they will sometimes run afoul of the rule barring any participation.
Rengan Rajaratnam pleaded not guilty to insider trading charges in late March, but prosecutors have signaled that they are in plea discussions with him).
Details of the agreement were unclear, and possible plea discussions were continuing in an investigation of Mr. Jackson's wife, Sandi, who recently resigned from Chicago's City Council, the person said.
In a May 30 court filing, the United States attorney's office in Manhattan signaled that Rengan Rajaratnam is in plea discussions with the government to settle charges that he profited from inside information on such stocks as Clearwire and Advanced Micro Devices.
Marc Costanzo, the senior deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania, said no plea discussions had been held in the case in which Sandusky is accused of more than 50 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over a number of years.
The talks came after federal prosecutors shared evidence it had compiled – wiretap transcripts, trading records and summaries — with his defense lawyers "in order to facilitate plea discussions with the defense".
With plea discussions under way, a judge has delayed the trial of a married couple accused of helping a fellow anti-abortion activist elude capture in the killing of a doctor who performed abortions.
