The hearing: 'I plead not guilty to all counts'
By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: February 19 2004 19:12 | Last Updated: February 19 2004 19:12
news.ft.com
Jeffrey Skilling, former Enron chief executive, surrendered to the FBI on Thursday to face a 42-count indictment, but he remained as defiant as ever that he was innocent.
The FBI drove him handcuffed to Houston's federal courthouse, where three of his lawyers met him to prepare a $5m cashier's check to secure his release on bail.
After making his way silently past the dozens of cameras set up outside the courthouse, Mr Skilling was escorted into the courtroom of US Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy.
In an ill-fitting grey suit, Mr Skilling sat reading the charges. The 50-year-old former Wall Street darling looked a little softer and balder than he had at Enron, where he had made a name for himself as an avid sports adventurer.
"You have a right to an attorney," the judge told Mr Skilling - but quickly added: "It looks like you have an embarrassment of riches in that regard." Prosecutors outlined the charges against Mr Skilling, which range from conspiracy to insider trading, and said he faced up to 325 years in prison and more than $80m in fines if convicted.
Mr Skilling stood silently erect throughout the proceedings.
The judge outlined conditions for release, which included remaining employed - Mr Skilling said he was self-employed - and giving up his firearms: "Hunting is out for you right now."
She said he did not have to make a plea, but Mr Skilling insisted: "I plead not guilty to all counts."
Diana Peters, who lost her job and $75,000 in savings in Enron's collapse, was the only former employee in the courtroom. "I would have liked to have heard him plead guilty," she said after his hearing.
"But it's okay that he pleaded innocent. It's kind of exciting to hear him think he would get away with it." She believed prosecutors would not have brought charges without being certain they could make a convincing case.
"I'm sure he's going to fight till the end, which I'm glad for because if he did plead guilty [and worked out a deal as did Andrew Fastow, Enron's former chief financial officer] he would not get a maximum sentence," Ms Peters said.
Mr Skilling bred much disdain at Enron, where he dismissed anyone baffled by its financial scheming with the put down that they just did not "get it".
Cathy Peterson, whose husband lost his job at Enron just before dying of cancer, said later: "He is pleading innocence. Repeating his famous quote to so many . . . 'I don't think he gets it'."
But Dan Petrocelli, one of Mr Skilling's lawyers, insisted his client had passed a lie detector test.
"They want to take this man away from his three children, his friends and family in Houston, and put him away for life," he said. |
