MARBLEHEAD — A former Fidelity Investments trader from Marblehead has been found to have engaged in insider trading, following a weeklong civil jury trial in U.S. District Court.

David K. Donovan Jr., 46, was the subject of a civil lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year.

The SEC alleged that Donovan used a Fidelity internal database of pending stock orders to learn of a forthcoming purchase of a large number of shares of Covad Communications, then arranged to have his mother purchase numerous shares of Covad, prior to the information becoming public.

On Friday, a U.S. District Court jury agreed that Donovan had used the information to arrange the purchase of 55,000 shares of Covad stock through his elderly mother's brokerage account in 2003.

When the stocks were later sold, Donovan's mother made an $89,000 profit, SEC regulators alleged.

"We consider this a victory for investors," SEC Regional Director David Bergers said of the verdict.

The SEC had also accused a Texas man, David Hinkle, of using information from e-mails sent by Donovan to purchase shares of Covad. But the jury disagreed, finding Hinkle not liable.

Donovan's lawyer, Raipher Pellegrino, said last night that he considers that finding concerning Hinkle, who was accused of making a much larger profit of more than $200,000, a victory for his client.

"We're pleased that the jury rejected the SEC's major claim that David Donovan provided insider information to David Hinkle," said Pellegrino, who called the outcome a "vindication."

Pellegrino said he intends to appeal the verdict.

SEC lawyers presented evidence that Donovan had repeatedly accessed the database, which contained information on planned purchases by Fidelity, approximately 107 times.

Donovan then asked for permission from Fidelity to purchase some of the Covad stock himself but was turned down.

Regulators charged that Donovan then arranged for the purchase of the shares by his elderly mother, Concetta, who also lives in Marblehead.

Investigators tried to question Concetta Donovan, according to court papers, but she repeatedly invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Then, during the trial, after prosecutors opted not to call her as a witness, Donovan's defense team put her on the witness list. During that deposition, Concetta Donovan insisted she had researched Covad herself by going online. She said she believed Covad was "a wonderful stock," based on information "from the computer."

Her testimony, in the end, did not help her son beat the claim involving her transactions.

The SEC is now asking U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel to enter judgment against Donovan for a total of $269,000 — three times the amount his mother profited from the sale, plus interest.

A hearing on that request has not been scheduled.

Donovan resigned from Fidelity in 2005.

Last year, Donovan agreed to settle unrelated complaints brought by the SEC over gifts, travel and entertainment he improperly accepted from brokerage firms that had been doing business with Fidelity.

The gifts, which are banned by federal law, included lavish trips to the Super Bowl, Las Vegas and the Bahamas, often on private jets; tickets to sporting events; and a case of fine wine. Donovan paid $208,000 in restitution for what regulators described as "ill-gotten gains," interest and penalties, and was also censured.