WASHINGTON – A former New York lawyer who lied to federal agents about his role in a stock price manipulation scheme will spend the next two years on federal probation.

Robert S. Brown, formerly with New York's Reitler Brown & Rosenblatt, pleaded guilty in Washington, D.C., federal district court to obstructing a grand jury's investigation of a so-called stock "scalping" scheme involving the use of promotional material to tout particular securities.