Enron Accountant Changes Plea, page 1

Richard Causey, former chief accountant for Enron Corp., changed his plea to guilty in the government's fraud case against him Wednesday, accepting a seven year prison sentence and forfeiting $1.25 million in ill-gotten gains. If he cooperates acceptably with prosecutors in their on-going fraud case against former Enron CEOs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, the sentence could be reduced to five years.

www.nysun.com
Former Top Enron Accountant Pleads Guilty To Fraud

HOUSTON (AP) - Former top Enron Corp. accountant Richard Causey pleaded guilty to securities fraud Wednesday and agreed to help pursue convictions against Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling.

Lay, Skilling and Causey were scheduled to be tried together Jan. 17 on conspiracy, fraud and other charges related to the scandal-ridden company's collapse more than four years ago. The deal leaves Lay and Skilling with another opponent rather than an ally who has been part of their united defense front since the trio was first indicted last year.

Causey will serve seven years in prison and forfeit $1.25 million to the government, according to the plea deal. However, if the government is happy with his cooperation, prosecutors can ask that his sentence be reduced to five years.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

The ball of string that was Enron continues to unravel. This is a major blow to Lay and Skilling, and they have been given a couple extra weeks to think things over. Maybe it would be best for them, and certainly for the public interest, to now come clean and admit to their part in the 'Dark Star' conspiracy

Related News Links:
www.courttv.com

[edit on 1-1-2006 by asala]