Enron chief to get less jail time

Azerbaijan News.Net
Tuesday 6th January, 2009

Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling will have his 24-year prison term re-adjusted.

An appeals court in the US has ordered that he be resentenced, owing to the fact the original sentencing judge improperly applied a guideline that resulted in a longer prison term for Skilling.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied Skilling's request to overturn his convictions, which he had argued were invalid because of incorrect legal theory, faulty jury instructions, a biased jury and prosecutorial misconduct.

Skilling was convicted in May 2006 on 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors for his role in the collapse of Houston-based Enron company.

The downfall of Enron in 2001 led to the loss of thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion in Enron stock value and the loss of more than $2 billion in employee pension plans.

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