Enron CEO cuts deal for early prison release

Why is it people like this asshole can be sentenced for a specific amount of time and then because he's tired of being in prison he can just say "ok, I'll admit guilt and wave my right to the money (that was stolen and not his in the first place)", and then get out of jail years earlier?...$$$$$
Fuk him! I am so sick of these rich pricks who think (know) they can get away with almost anything because they have the dough. even bankrupting an entire country's economy only seems to get them bonus checks!

Mr. Skilling isn't buying his way out of jail. He's agreeing not to appeal his criminal convictions or the $40 million fine imposed on him. It's not much different from a pre-trail plea bargain.

I don't like the idea, but it gets that $40 million out of the appeals process and in the hands of the victims.

Also, the deal is not final.

I get what you're saying, but still seems shady to me. I know it's a good thing this money can now go to victims, but I bet if there wasn't so much money involved this probably wouldn' be on the table.

So the lesson still is: if you're rich enough to afford endless legal appeals and/or stole enough money that you can hold hostage, the government will cry uncle. But Im not aware of where they've done this for drug dealers or mobsters, so it must be who you know.

Murderers an rapists have spent less time in jail then him.....hey but if you're a lefty that isn't an issue.

Its not right for those criminals either. Do you know how many people lost their life savings cuz of this asshole? The amount of shareholder losses from fraud was 40 Billion...,1000x this settlement amount. Employees lost $2Billion in pension and savings... 50x the amount of this settlement. If an average guy stole that amout he would not get his sentence cut in half just for returning the money.

Given how little corporate crime in the US is ever punished to begin with all it's actually quite amazing that Skilling and the other Enron grifters did any prison time at all.

Murders and rapists damage families. Skilling damaged tens of thousands of families.
How is white collar theft better than armed robbery? I'm not defending rapists or murderers, just saying that white collar criminals who use a pen to destroy vast numbers of families or bankrupt nations are more dangerous than someone using a gun to knock over a 7/11.

Should have killed the prick.

“The class which has the power to rob upon a large scale also has the power to control the government to legalize their robbery,” – Eugene V. Debs

Plenty of criminals who've done worse things are being cut loose due to prison overcrowding and budget reductions. Where Skilling is unlikely to re-offend (who's going to hire him as a CEO?) he makes sense to the system as a candidate for a sentence reduction.

Agreed. As much as Skilling is a huge douchebag, it's highly unlikely he'll ever be in the position to ever do what he did ever again. If I had to make a choice between keeping a rapist, or keeping Skilling in jail, I'd keep the rapist.

I don't care if he spends one day in jail. But give him a life sentence where all his financial dealings are closely scrutinized, any money found is confiscated and he has to pay restitution for the rest of his life. I see too many scumbags that are convicted or just declare bankruptcy and seem to go right back to living the high life. Millikan for instance - seems to still have lots of money. Has he paid back every cent he stole?

I don't care if spends any time in jail either. But I do think he has reparations to make to society. He should get a life-sentence of full-time community service.

Milken's insider trading convictions are questionable. Not saying I love the guy, just that the real 'crime' he committed was in being an outsider to the Wall Street community who made the mistake of making the old guard look like fools. He made money on market segments that the old guard traditionally ignored and held in contempt.

I forget who it was, but one of his buddies escaped to Switzerland and when the US tried to extradite him the Swiss courts found that the evidence was wholly inadequate to justify the US request. I remember a couple of IRS agents ended up in a Swiss prison for trying to steal bank information about the guy.

Over the years I've observed that the SEC uses insider trading charges sort of the same way street cops use 'resisting arrest' when they can't find anything else to go with. Insider trading charges are rarely supported by documentary evidence and instead are often based on the same level of 'evidence' as charges of witchcraft once were.

It's also notable that the government often asserts in court that the fact that someone made money on an unusual gambit is 'proof' of a crime.

Even myself, I was questioned about why I purchased MCI WorldCom when they were in bankruptcy ten years ago. The shares were trading at US$0.21 per share and I read a bankruptcy court document that had been published that if the company liquidated then the liquidation value was going to be $4.37 per share...making this a pretty attractive gamble.

I bought 100,000 shares (not a lot of money, really) and sold when the stock rebounded to $5 per share. Which I regret given that today it is trading at $16.96 per share.