Validating waterboarding and retroactively absolving the CIA was bad enough. Then came the knowledge that the department ran guns to Mexican drug cartels. After that it was banks are too big to jail, and now this:
"Enron CEO in talks to cut prison sentence" by Erik Larson | Bloomberg News, April 05, 2013
NEW YORK — Former Enron Corp. chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, now serving 24 years in prison for misleading his company’s investors, is in talks with the Justice Department to alter his sentence.
The Justice Department issued a notice Wednesday to victims, including thousands of former Enron employees and shareholders, asking them to alert the authorities by April 17 if they wish to express their views in court on a possible new sentence.
‘‘On occasion, the United States Department of Justice enters into agreements with defendants to resolve certain disputed matters concerning sentencing,’’ the notice said. The government ‘‘is considering entering into a sentencing agreement with the defendant in this matter.’’
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The talks were disclosed 11 months after Skilling’s lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said his client would seek a retrial based on what he called newly discovered evidence....
Skilling, imprisoned at a low-security facility in Littleton, Colo., was convicted by a Houston jury in 2006 of misleading investors about the true financial condition of Enron. He was also convicted of lying to auditors and insider trading. According to the US Bureau of Prisons, he is scheduled to be released on Feb. 21, 2028, when he will be 74.
How eerie is it that he is confined where Columbine happened.
Enron, once the world’s largest energy trader, filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after revelations that it was hiding billions of dollars in losses, in turn inflating the company’s stock price. More than 5,000 jobs and $2 billion in employee retirement funds were wiped out, while investors sued to recover more than $60 billion in losses.
Kenneth Lay, Enron’s founder and chairman, was convicted of leading the fraud alongside Skilling. Lay’s conviction was erased when he died six weeks after the verdict, before he had a chance to appeal....
I wonder how Ken is enjoying the isolated island existence.
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"Deal would reduce sentence for Enron’s Skilling" by JUAN A. LOZANO | Associated Press, May 09, 2013
HOUSTON — Convicted former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s more than 24-year prison sentence for his role in the once mighty energy giant’s collapse could be reduced by as many as 10 years if a federal judge approves an agreement reached Wednesday between prosecutors and defense attorneys....
Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said the agreement would allow victims of Enron’s collapse to finally receive more than $40 million in restitution.
The ongoing status of the case has so far prevented the government from distributing Skilling’s seized assets to victims, according to the agreement.
Skilling was convicted in 2006 on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading, and lying to auditors for his role in the downfall of Houston-based Enron.
The company collapsed into bankruptcy in 2001.
Skilling has been in prison since December 2006.
How sad is it that at least the Bush Administration put some financial criminals in jail?
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