Oct. 24, 2006 - 19:59 MDT

DOESN'T UNDO THE DAMAGE

There is news, better than I expected, but not firm enough to suit me. An article in today's Rocky Mountain News by Michael Graczyk of the Asscociated Press, quoted here in full:

SKILLING SENTENCED

Former Enron CEO who denied guilt given 24-year term

Houston -- "Standing before a federal judge and pleading for his life, Jeffrey Skilling looked contrite, hands folded below his waist, his voice at one point halting as he talked about Enron Corp., the failed company he headed and drove to the pinnacle of American business success."

"In terms of remorse, I can't imagine more remorse," he told U.S. District Judge Sim Lake Monday."

"But Skilling, the one-time visionary at the high-flying energy giant, stuck to his story."

"He didn't commit fraud and conspiracy, he said, didn't use shady deals and accounting tricks that contributed to the implosion of mighty Enron, once the nation's seventh-largest company, and wasn't responsible for the loss of thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion in Enron stock and more that $2 billion in employee pension plans when Enron collapsed."

"I'm innocent of every one of these charges," Skilling said."

"We will continue to pursue my constitutional rights, and it's no dishonor to this court and anyone else in this court. but I feel very strongly about this, and I want my friends, my family to know that."

"Lake, who presided over the four-month trial of former chief executive Skilling and Enron founder Ken Lay earlier this year, wasn't swayed."

"He sentenced Skilling to 24 years and four months in a federal prison, the toughtest sentence given to anyone caught up in the Enron scandal."

"Even outside the courthouse, after being fitted with an ankle monitor he must wear until he goes to prison, Skilling was adamant."

The word Enron conjures up some really awful things," he said. "I don't fault the judge for what he did. I believe I'll be vindicated."

"Wishful thinking and denial of ability to accept defeat is typical of these kinds of people," said Tamar Frankel, a Boston University School of Law professor and author of a business ethics book."

"I was kind of appalled at his lack of remorse," Rhett Campbell, a Houston attorney whose firm represented about two dozen energy companies involved in Enron's filing for bankruptcy protection in December 2001. "I think he got what he deserved."

"Former Enron corporate secretary Paula Rieker got a break, sentenced to two year probation rather than a decade in prison, because of her cooperation with prosecutors. Former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow received symnpathy, getting six years in prison instead of 10."

"Not Skilling."

"The Enron fraud is as large and as serious and any other fraud in this nation's history," Prosecutor Sean Berkowitz told Lake, who denied Skilling's request for bond and ordered him to home confinement."

"One of the problems Jeff Skilling was facing at his sentencing was the reality that he was the last and highest-ranking defendant to be sentenced in what became known as the largest and most notorious corporate scandals in U.S. history," said Robert Mintz, a former prosecutor in the Justice Department's criminal division.."

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So, some of the guilty have been sentenced, some pay a price of years in jail. But to my mind the destruction of dreams of retirement, hard worked for, to be lost in the Enron scandal, jail time DOESN'T UNDO THE DAMAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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