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This article was first published 11 years ago

Former Enron CEO's sentence cut by 10 years

Last updated on: June 22, 2013 13:53 IST

Image: Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling.
Photographs: Jeff Mitchell/Reuters Seema Haku Kachru in Houston

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling serving a 24-year prison term for his role in the once-mighty energy giant's collapse has succeeded in getting his prison sentence reduced by 10 years as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

US District Judge Sim Lake shaved off the prison sentence of Skilling, 59, who has been in prison since 2006, by 10 years, closing the book on one of the most spectacular white-collar cases of the last two decades.

The long-running battle between federal prosecutors and Skilling formally came to an end when US District Judge Sim Lake signed off on a negotiated sentence agreement.

With the sentence reduction and time off for good behaviour, he could go free in 2017.

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Former Enron CEO's sentence cut by 10 years

Image: An employee walks out the front door of the Enron building in downtown Houston. A file photo.
Photographs: Richard Carson/Reuters

"This is not an easy decision to make," Lake said about the number of months to choose. "The two most significant factors are the need for the sentence to deter others from similar action and to reflect the seriousness of the offense 168 months adequately reflects both concerns. The court is not persuaded a longer sentence is necessary."

As part of the resentencing deal brokered between prosecutors and the defence last month, Skilling agreed to stop challenging his conviction and forfeit roughly $42 million that will be distributed among the victims of the Enron fraud.

"The sentence handed down today ends years of litigation, imposes significant punishment upon the defendant and precludes him from ever challenging his conviction or sentence," Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman said in a statement.

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Former Enron CEO's sentence cut by 10 years

Image: US Senate Finance Committee workers push boxes containing Enron tax records after they were delivered to the committee office at the Senate Dirksen building on April 5, 2002.
Photographs: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

It's unclear exactly when Skilling will be released under his new 14-year sentence. The Justice Department referred questions on the issue to the Bureau of Prisons, which declined to comment.

Victims, including former Enron employees and stockholders, were invited to speak at the resentencing hearing. More than 4,000 employees lost their jobs and some also lost their life savings, which were tied up in the company investment retirement plans. Investors lost billions of dollars.

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Former Enron CEO's sentence cut by 10 years

Image: Former Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay and wife Linda smile as they leave Federal court in Houston on April 19, 2006.
Photographs: Richard Carson/Reuters

The name "Enron" has become synonymous with white collar crime, just as the name "Madoff" has become synonymous with Ponzi schemes.

Skilling has maintained his innocence throughout the duration of the scandal, just like his CEO predecessor Kenneth Lay, who founded Enron. Lay was also convicted, in 2006, of corporate fraud. But he died later that year at age 64 while on vacation, just months before his scheduled sentencing.

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