NEW YORK - Patrick Sweeney, 53, a foreign currency broker originally from Staten Island, has been sentenced to four years supervised release before Federal District Court Judge Barbara Jones in Manhattan Federal Court. 

The sentence follows his guilty plea to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and federal tax evasion. 

Sweeney was arrested in November 2003 in connection with Operation Wooden Nickel, a large scale undercover investigation of criminal activity in the foreign currency or "forex" markets.  As part of the sentence, he was ordered to pay $400,001 in restitution to UBS and $24,000 to Societe Generale, and was ordered to forfeit $5.2 million dollars to the government.  During the late 1990's, Sweeney worked at Tullett and Tokyo Forex, Inc., 80 Pine Street, Manhattan.  The firm offered brokerage services in the interbank spot foreign currency market. 

In his scheme, Sweeney used his contacts with bank traders in large institutions and provided rigged foreign currency trades to co-conspirators in return for cash kickbacks.  During 1998 and 1999, he was charged with federal tax evasion in connection with the cash kickbacks.  

Angelo Mazzeo, another foreign currency broker who also worked at Tullett and Tokyo Forex, was sentenced earlier this year to two years supervised release after pleading guilty to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. 

The Southern District of New York prosecuted the investigation.