Appellate Ruling Pushes Skilling Closer to Prison
Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey K. Skilling must report to a Waseca, Minn., prison soon, an appeals court judge ruled yesterday, because Skilling's appeal will not result in the reversal of all 19 of his criminal convictions.
Skilling, 53, had prepared to begin serving his 24 1/2 -year sentence yesterday. But an eleventh-hour reprieve from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit late Monday kept him from flying to Minnesota. The court said it needed more time to consider Skilling's plea to remain free pending appeal.
Yesterday, in a two-page order, Circuit Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham reversed course. The judge cited "serious frailties" with Skilling's conviction on conspiracy, securities fraud and insider-trading charges by a Houston jury in May. In another Enron case last summer, the appeals court invalidated a legal theory the government had used, casting doubt on the survivability of many of Skilling's convictions.
But the judge's order suggested that the ruling in the other case would not impact Skilling's conviction on five counts of lying to auditors. Higginbotham concluded that other likely appellate challenges by Skilling, including an instruction that allowed jurors to convict him if he turned a blind eye to fraud at the Houston energy trading company, were "less formidable."
"Skilling raises no substantial question that is likely to result in the reversal of his convictions on all of the charged counts," Higginbotham wrote.
As a result, the judge denied Skilling's motion to remain free because his prison term would likely exceed the length of time it would take to appeal the case. The order means that Skilling, who continues to assert his innocence, could be forced report to the 1,070-inmate facility 75 miles south of Minneapolis as early as today, his lawyer said.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment yesterday. Daniel M. Petrocelli, a lawyer for Skilling, said the defense team remains "hopeful" because of the judge's doubts about some of Skilling's convictions.
Enron's December 2001 bankruptcy cost investors and employees billions of dollars in lost retirement savings. The company's founder, Kenneth L. Lay, died in July of natural causes, and a judge has since erased his conviction because of longstanding legal precedent.
Original article posted here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
And now he has turned himself in. I hope it sticks. I just wish he could be sharing a room at Club Fed with Kenny Boy.
Post a Comment