Deadline Passes For Enron Plea (Mrs Fastow DOESN'T Plea)

[salin]

Deadline Passes For Enron Plea

HOUSTON, Jan. 9, 2004

(CBS/AP) A judge said Friday that the wife of former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow would go to trial as planned after a noon deadline for her to accept the judge's conditions on a plea deal passed with no word from her attorneys.

Without a plea agreement for Lea Fastow, a separate plea agreement for Andrew Fastow seemed unlikely and could hinder the government's investigation of other executives from the failed energy giant, most notably possible prosecutions of Enron's former top executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner had said Thursday he would accept a plea from Lea Fastow, a former assistant treasurer at Enron, but reserved the right to impose a sentence longer than the five months suggested by her attorneys and prosecutors. He gave her a day to think about his position and decide whether she wanted to proceed with her plea.

more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/07/national/main591929.shtml

[UTUSN]

1. So She's Taking Her Chances with a Jury?

Nothing if not risk-takers, them Enronites. They can still plea bargain for a lighter sentence if they're found Guilty, no?

[magidon]

6. At that point it's more like begging for mercy.

And such post-conviction begging is rarely met with anything but laughter, especially when a plea bargain offer was put on the table before trial.

Lea's made a big, dumb, giant mistake. She's part of the Enron conspiracy, and was going to get off with a slap on the wrist. Now, she almost certainly end up in jail for years, which is what she deserves anyway. Bye bye!

What I want to know is what's happening to the money. I don't care if both Fastows get sent up the river for 20 years if they'll still be multimillionaires when they get out. I'd much rather they only get a few months in jail, but have every penny they've got including land, mansions, everything, get liquidated and distributed to laid-off Enron workers and stockholders left holding the bag. Even if each person wronged by the Fastows ended up getting a check for only a few cents, it wouldn't matter. The important thing would be that the Fastows would end up having to get real jobs and live in a house with only one or two bathrooms, while driving Hyundais. That would be a much worse hell to them than doing some Club Fed time and then heading right back into the lap of luxury.

NAIL THEM!

[UTUSN]

7. But the FASTOWs Are for Getting at LAY/SKILLING n/t

[yellowcanine]

2. Uh Oh - sounds as if the Fastows aren't on the same page

Mr. vs Mrs. in the criminal trial? Could get messy. Pass the popcorn, please.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

3. they fear becoming a # of the bush body count ...

because if they had pled they would at least have had Mrs Fastow home with their young children in maybe 1 year...but now :shrug:

sad but i guess iut's better than making them orphans...tough call

[aquart]

11. She was supposed to get five months.

The judge said no way. She was scared what he would do?

[MoonAndSun]

4. So is this how repuke husbands treat their wives? Why wouldn't he

make a bargain with the prosecutors and say "I'll cooperate fully as long as you leave my wife alone." Or would they prefer they all go down together? What repuke family values.

Of course my point is moot if what she has been charged with is as serious or more then what Skilling or Lay did.

[Wwagsthedog]

5. More here from the Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/2344922

Lea Fastow's plea deal apparently collapsed today when her lawyers decided not to sign off on an agreement that would have left her sentence up to a federal judge who had indicated he wanted a longer term than the five months she had negotiated. And it threw into doubt a 10-year plea deal negotiated by her husband Andrew, the former Enron chief financial officer.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner had given Lea Fastow until noon today to decide whether to accept his terms -- a guilty plea but no decision on length of sentence until he received a pre-sentence investigation.

When her lawyers failed to do so, he ordered that jury selection begin in her criminal trial on Feb. 10.

"We're a little disappointed," said Enron Task Force director Leslie Caldwell as she left the Houston federal courthouse this afternoon on her way to the airport.

More...........

[Beetwasher]

8. I Gotta Wonder If Someone Got to Her

Perhaps a longer jail term is better than being suicided?

[AndyTiedye]

9. Pardon?

right after the election, of course.

[PaDUer]

10. I have the same thoughts..n/t

[aquart]

12. More like someone got to the judge.