Update on the Sad Case of Jamie Olis

This Chronicle story reports that former Dynegy executive Jamie Olis has been ordered to begin serving his 24-year prison sentence on May 20th for participating in an accounting scheme to disguise a $300 million loan as cash flow for Dynegy.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake late Tuesday ordered Mr. Olis, 38 — who is married and the father of an eight month old and a soon-to-born child — to surrender May 20 at the minimum-security federal prison in Bastrop, Texas, which is just southeast of Austin.

Mr. Olis’ former Dynegy boss, Gene Shannon Foster, and former in-house accountant Helen Christine Sharkey pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy in connection with the same scheme for which Mr. Olis was convicted. They face no more than five years in prison and are scheduled to be sentenced in August.

During Mr. Olis’ trial, Mr. Foster testified that Sharkey, Olis, and he were among seven Dynegy employees and two outside attorneys who crafted the Project Alpha deal in April 2001 to meet financial expectations and reduce Dynegy’s taxes. None of those who Foster named — including former Dynegy finance chief Rob Doty — have been charged.

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