Ex-Enron executive found guilty, another acquitted in broadband scheme trial News
Ex-Enron executive found guilty, another acquitted in broadband scheme trial

[JURIST] A former Enron [JURIST news archive] broadband executive was found guilty Wednesday on one count of falsifying records and conspiracy and three counts of wire fraud, and another was acquitted on the same five charges, one year after their first trial ended in a hung jury [JURIST report]. Former CFO Kevin Howard, who was convicted, and senior accounting director Michael Krautz [Houston Chronicle profiles], who was acquitted, were re-indicted [JURIST report] in November on fewer charges stemming from allegations that they illegally put millions in profits on the books of Enron's broadband division by selling an interest in the future profits of a video-on-demand deal with Blockbuster Video that collapsed shortly afterwards.

Howard faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. The original trial was split into three parts. The insider trading and money laundering trial of former VP Scott Yeager [Chronicle profile] is postponed pending an appeal, and the conspiracy, fraud and insider trading trial of former CEO Joseph Hirko and former senior VP Rex Shelby [Houston Chronicle profiles] is scheduled to begin on Sept. 5. The sentencing of former Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, found guilty last week [JURIST report], is scheduled for Sept. 11. AP has more.