|  | | 2009 News and Press Releases | | |
HEADLINE NEWS:
Ex-Enron Executive Free Of Charges After Ruling
Juan A. Lozano
Associated Press. October 20, 2009
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EXCERPT: A former Enron Corp. executive is free of criminal charges related to financial fraud at the one-time energy giant after an appeals court ruled he should be acquitted of all counts he faced. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said it would not revisit the case of F. Scott Yeager, a former executive at Enron's failed broadband venture. The appeals court, in a ruling released late Monday, sent the case back to a federal court in Houston and ordered it to enter acquittals on all counts Yeager faced. The ruling comes after the Supreme Court in June threw out a previous ruling by the 5th Circuit that would have allowed a retrial on charges for which a jury could not reach a verdict at Yeager's 2005 trial. The Supreme Court had said the appeals court, if it wanted, could take another look at the case, leaving the door open for a possible retrial. In its Monday ruling, the 5th Circuit turned down a request by prosecutors that it review the case after the Supreme Court's decision. "Today, ... it is clear under our initial ... analysis the jury made a finding in acquitting Yeager that precludes prosecution on insider trading and money laundering," the appeals court said in its ruling. Samuel Buffone, one of Yeager's attorneys, said his client did nothing wrong and should never have been indicted. "He had this hanging over his head despite repeated (legal) victories. Now to have it come to an end is fitting and certainly removes him from the incredible cloud that had been hanging over his life and his reputation for the last seven years," Buffone said. The Justice Department declined to comment, said spokeswoman Laura Sweeney. Yeager was one of five former executives from Enron's failed broadband venture tried in 2005. |
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