More good coverage of Enron sentencing dynamics
This morning’s Chicago Tribune has this interesting article, entitled “‘Ashamed’ wrongdoer gets break: Deal limiting sentence of former finance chief key to prosecution, but some say it goes too far.” As the title suggests, the article focuses on the steep sentencing discounts given to cooperators in corporate fraud cases. Here’s the article’s start:
They blamed him above all others for bringing down Enron Corp., forcing him to admit repeatedly under oath that, yes, he is a shameful excuse for a human being. Yet in the end, the contrite Andrew Fastow stands to come through the Enron scandal in far better shape than the unrepentant Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, the ex-Enron bosses who attacked him so vigorously during the criminal trial that ended last week with their convictions.
By pleading guilty and testifying for the government, the former finance chief has limited his exposure to 10 years in prison, while Lay and Skilling face 20 years or more at their sentencing on Sept. 11. If Fastow gets off with a relatively light sentence, he will join the swelling ranks of white-collar offenders who have reaped significant rewards for their cooperation. The crackdown on corporate crime that culminated in Thursday’s Enron verdict has led to vast disparities in punishment between those who strike plea bargains and those relative few who go to trial.
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