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October 15, 2008
Hedging the Enron trial penalty
On the heels of this news, and given the mainstream media's ubiquitous characterization of Enron as the harbinger of the current Wall Street financial crisis, it's really not surprising that former Enron Broadband co-CEO Joe Hirko opted to cop a plea on Tuesday rather than face a draining re-trial of the notorious Enron Broadband case. A copy of the plea deal is here.
Although Hirko and his co-defendants overcame enormous odds to win acquittals and a hung jury in the initial Broadband trial, Hirko and his family have already endured over five years of uncertainty as the Damoclean Sword of a relentless federal prosecution hung over their heads. Inasmuch as Hirko could have easily been looking at a decade behind bars if he were to be convicted in the re-trial, a probable sentence of 12-16 months in a plea deal is a reasonable hedge of what has become the draconian trial penalty for business executives.
Posted by Tom at October 15, 2008 12:01 AM
Comments
It's a sad testatment to the current sentencing climate that, if Hirko were a client, there'd be a bittersweet office celebration. That's a *good* deal. And yet: Is a deal with the Devil ever anything other than one foot in Hell?
Posted by: Mike ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://blog.kir.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 15, 2008 4:34 PM
Anyone who has read the Broadband trial transcript knows that Hirko is innocent. What a tragedy when the only way for an innocent man to escape from a false indictment is to hedge the trial risk by pleading guilty to something he didn't do.
Posted by: Evan at October 16, 2008 10:09 AM
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