(Bloomberg) -- The former head of Tesla Inc.’s Australian operations, Kurt Schlosser, has avoided jail after pleading guilty to insider trading using confidential information about the US electric carmaking giant.

Schlosser was sentenced in the Sydney District Court to two years and six months in prison, though was immediately released on a good behavior bond, Australia’s securities regulator said Tuesday.

Schlosser bought 86,478 shares in Piedmont Lithium Ltd. on Sept. 16., 2020 after becoming aware that Tesla had struck a supply deal with the Australia-listed mining company. Schlosser also told a friend about the agreement before it was announced, knowing that they would probably buy Piedmont stock, according to ASIC. 

Schlosser was ordered to hand over to the state the A$28,883.53 ($19,400) profit he made from the trade, and is disqualified from managing corporations for five years, ASIC said.

The maximum penalty for an insider-trading offense is 15 years in prison.

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.