A federal court jury Wednesday acquitted three former Enron Corp. broadband executives of some charges and could not reach a verdict on any of the remaining charges involving them and two other executives.
The five were on trial for their alleged roles in making the washout broadband venture appear strong to investors and Wall Street to boost the company’s stock price.
Former broadband CEO Joseph Hirko was acquitted on insider trading and money laundering counts, and former strategist Scott Yeager was acquitted of conspiracy and security and wire fraud counts. In addition, software engineer Rex Shelby was acquitted of insider trading charges.
The jury of 10 men and two women was unable to reach a verdict on all remaining counts. It was considering 164 counts.
U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore declined requests from attorneys to identify the nature of the jury split. She issued an order barring jurors from discussing the case, which she said would have to be retried.
The jury, which deliberated four days, also was unable to reach a verdict on any counts involving former finance chief Kevin Howard and in-house accountant Michael Krautz.
Hirko, Yeager and Shelby faced multiple counts of fraud, insider trading and money laundering. Including a conspiracy count, Hirko faced 27 charges, Shelby faced 20 and Yeager faced the most of all five at 115, most of which are money laundering charges.
Howard and Krautz each faced 15 counts — a conspiracy charge and either securities or wire fraud charges.
The trial lasted 14 weeks.A federal court jury Wednesday acquitted three former Enron Corp. broadband executives of some charges and could not reach a verdict on any of the remaining charges involving them and two other executives.
The five were on trial for their alleged roles in making the washout broadband venture appear strong to investors and Wall Street to pump up the company's stock price.
Former broadband CEO Joseph Hirko was acquitted on insider trading and money laundering counts, and former strategist Scott Yeager was acquitted of conspiracy and security and wire fraud counts. In addition, software engineer Rex Shelby was acquitted of insider trading charges.
The jury of 10 men and two women was unable to reach a verdict on all remaining counts. It was considering 164 counts. U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore declined requests from attorneys to identify the nature of the jury split. She issued an order barring jurors from discussing the case, which she said would have to be retried.
The jury also was unable to reach a verdict on any counts involving former finance chief Kevin Howard and in-house accountant Michael Krautz.