Ex-Galleon employee pleads guilty in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — A former employee of a New York hedge fund at the center of a massive insider trading prosecution has pleaded guilty.

Craig Drimal becomes the 21st person to plead guilty in the case. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud today.

Drimal was arrested in the fall of 2009. It was just weeks after the arrest of his one-time boss, Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam.

Rajaratnam is awaiting a verdict from a federal jury in Manhattan. He has pleaded not guilty, saying the trades he made on behalf of hedge funds were based on public information.