A list of ex-Enron executives who are scheduled to be sentenced this year:
June 26: Larry Lawyer. Failed to identify more than $79,000 in income over four years he received as “gifts” from former Enron finance managing director Michael Kopper for his work in one of the schemes created by ex-Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow. Pleaded guilty to a felony tax crime in November 2002. Maximum penalty: Three years.
July 10: David Delainey, former head of Enron’s trading and money-losing retail energy units. Pleaded guilty to insider trading October 2003. Maximum penalty: 10 years.
July 28: Paula Rieker, former No. 2 executive in investor relations and later corporate secretary. Pleaded guilty in May 2004 to insider trading for selling shares in mid-2001 upon learning that Enron’s broadband unit lost more money than publicly disclosed. Maximum penalty: 10 years.
Aug. 10: Christopher Calger, a former executive in Enron’s trading business, pleaded guilty in July 2005 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for participating in an asset sale scheme to recognize earnings prematurely and improperly. Maximum penalty: Five years.
Aug. 17: Richard Causey, former Enron chief accounting officer. Originally indicted in January 2004, Causey was part of a unified defense team with Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling for nearly two years until he pleaded guilty to securities fraud in December 2005. The maximum penalty is 10 years, but Causey agreed as part of his plea deal to serve seven years. If pleased with his cooperation, prosecutors can recommend that a judge shave that term to five years.
Aug. 28: Fastow. Indicted on 98 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading, money laundering and others. Pleaded guilty in January 2004 to two counts of conspiracy, admitting to orchestrating myriad schemes to hide Enron debt and inflate profits while enriching himself. Surrendered nearly $30 million in cash and property. Agreed to serve the maximum 10 years in prison.
Sept. 11: Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling. Both convicted by a jury May 25 of running a conspiracy to portray a wobbly Enron as healthy when they knew accounting tricks hid losses and failing ventures. Lay was convicted of six counts of fraud and conspiracy, as well as one count of bank fraud and three counts of lying to banks in a separate non-jury trial regarding his personal banking. Skilling was convicted of 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy, lying to auditors and insider trading, and acquitted of nine counts of insider trading. Lay faces a combined maximum penalty of 165 years in prison, while Skilling faces a maximum of 185 years.
Sept. 11: Kevin Howard, former finance chief for Enron’s defunct broadband unit. Convicted by a jury May 31 after a monthlong trial. Found guilty of five counts of wire fraud, falsifying records and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and falsify recordsfor participating in a sham deal to manufacture earnings for a video-on-demand venture that flopped. Maximum penalty: 30 years.
Sept. 15: Timothy Despain, former assistant treasurer, pleaded guilty in October 2004 to conspiracy. Admitted lying or withholding pertinent information from credit rating agencies at the request of multiple superiors so the energy giant’s financial picture appeared healthier than it really was. Maximum penalty: 5 years.
Sept. 22: Michael Kopper, former top Fastow aide. First Enron insider to plead guilty in August 2002 to two counts of conspiracy. Admitted to helping Fastow carry out schemes to help Enron manipulate its books while skimming millions for himself, Fastow and others. Maximum penalty: 15 years.
Oct. 27: Mark Koenig, former head of investor relations, pleaded guilty in August 2004 to aiding and abetting securities fraud. Maximum penalty: 10 years.
Dec. 4: Kenneth Rice, former broadband unit CEO, pleaded guilty in July 2004 to securities fraud. Admitted to conspiring with others to describe Enron’s network control software as revolutionary and the network as up and running when neither was true so Enron stock would rise and he could profit from sales of inflated shares. Maximum penalty: 10 years.
Dec. 4: Kevin Hannon, former chief operating officer for the broadband unit, pleaded guilty in August 2004 to conspiracy for scheming with Rice and others to tout Enron’s broadband network as having capabilities it didn’t have to impress analysts and inflate company stock. Maximum penalty: 5 years.
No sentencing dates set for these defendants:
Timothy Belden, former top Enron trader. Pleaded guilty in October 2002 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Maximum penalty: Five years.
Jeffrey Richter, former trader, pleaded guilty in February 2003 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and lying to the FBI. Maximum penalty: 10 years, five years for each count.
John Forney, former trader, pleaded guilty in August 2004 to wire fraud. Maximum penalty: five years.
All three admitted to participating in trading schemes to manipulate California power markets during that state’s energy crisis in 2000-01.