Posted on 05/25/2006 8:19:59 AM PDT by COEXERJ145
Andrew Fastow, Enron's CFO, is serving his sentence in Federal prison in downtown Houston. It's no country club.
Another news conference now:
Another part of the Enron Task Force "... blah blah blah yada yada yada."
Now John Hueston, one of the pros's - he's reiterating all the huge losses to so many people and Lay's constant choice to put himself first over everyone.
His personal reaction, asked by media ... we hope that now people will have confidence in their judicial system. "Proud of our team; pleased with the jury and their hard work."
About sentencing: "There is a lot to process - our position won't be clear (to the public) until Seprember 11th."
More back-patting.
"Not worried about appeals - judge has been great."
So many letters and emails from all over the world from 1000s of victims asking them for justice.
More back-patting.
"Going to get a well-deserved drink and an afternoon off."
"The investigation may be continuing ..." That was said jokingly, because the last line of a LE news conference is usually "the investigation is ongoing."
~~~~~~
P.S. Lay & family ordered lunch in. They won't be out until after 2 PM, when they have a hearing on the conditions of Lay's bond and surrender of passport.
By the way, RIGHT NOW on CNBC if you want to turn it on ... Alex Busansky president of the Prison Council talking about this. Title "White Collar Prisons" talking about what kind of prison Lay and Skilling may go to ... both pro and con. They called them white collar, or minimum security prisons.
Turn it on ... :)
Ha ha, I don't keep up with Jeff Skilling enough to know if he still has a boat anywhere, but I agree with your sentiment. BRW, he had no family with him in the courtroom today.
IMO, Tony Snow should get President Bush out in front of the cameras asap applauding this verdict.
I'd love for that to happen. I don't think it will.
W's too loyal to his friends, even the ones who don't deserve it.
Waiting for Lay to come out to the podium in front of the courthouse. He and family have left the court hearing upstairs in the court room.
Sheesh ... reporter and news anchor here are saying Kenlay is "being treated like a common criminal now." Then adding, of course, that's what he is.
Oops, now they're saying Lay might not come back out the front door that he came in. One of his team upstairs, asked if Lay is going to come outside and speak, said "We'll see."
Oh, about the bond. His and his children's house deeds that were used for the bond will be returned when Lay shows up for sentencing. They would only be forfeited if he doesn't show up.
The atty's will automatically file an appeal with 5th Circuit, which would probably be heard sometime next year.
Still waiting ....
Dang, I didn't see your post until now. I'm sure he's not still talking.
Kewl! The Houston Chronicle has printed a special edition with two huge front-page full-page side-by-side photos of Lay and Skilling with GUILTY in huge headlines over them.
If I find an image, I'll post it.
Sorry you missed it. I'm on an equities trading desk so I listen to CNBC all day ... I looked up and there he was. I don't think you missed much, it was all conjecture.
He did assure us that even minimum security prisons have bars and guards. :)
OK ... Lay came out and said something and I missed it, lol, taking a potty break. Evidently, he said something about how he can now spend time with his family, his friends and his God. "I am innocent, I am a blessed man ..." and something else, but the reporter trailed off.
I'll have to get the exact wording later - so many more things going on - ANWR & immigration - gotta go look at those.
Lay doesn't need to go to Supermax to share a cell with the Unabomber or Moussaoui. He's not a dangerous criminal. But I'd be surprised if he gets to go to Martha Stewart's minimum security facility either.
Those are generally reserved for white collar criminals with relatively short sentences. It's hard to imagine that Lay will get a sentence short of 20 years, and that's probably a life sentence in his case.
Skilling will probably be hit even harder, although at age 52 he might see freedom again someday.
I don't see either of them sent to a minimum security prison, although they might eventually be transferred to one. We'll see. I think they probably will be sent first to a facility like the one in Texarkana.
They named 5-6 possibilities - Beaumont, Texarkana, La Tuna (or something like that), two more I've already forgotten.
~~~~~~
Here's Lay's comment:
"... Shortly before 3 p.m., Lay also made a brief statement to the media outside the courthouse: "Despite what happened today, I'm still a very blessed man. At my left is this beautiful lady that's my wife. I have a very warm, loving family. And, most of all I believe God, in fact, is in control and that, indeed God works all things good for all who love the lord. We love our lord, all this will work for good." ..."
Sorry, the non-capitalization of a certain word that should be capitalized is copied directly from the HouChron. Apologies.
Employees had the stock as part of their established retirement package set up by the company. A third-party purchaser would be somebody who chose (without any similar constraint) to pay his money and take his chances.
I know a lot of Enron employees. They did get wiped out.
On the other hand, a lot of them are measuring their losses based on the highest price Enron stock achieved.
That price was based on lies. They can't fairly claim that they were entitled to the bogus value when it should never have been that high to begin with.
To argue otherwise is to assert that they were entitled to the value of Ken Lay's lies, but not the repercussions. It doesn't work that way.
The problem was that it was an asset they could borrow against and a lot of them did. They didn't know it was all lies - and they were stuck with having to pay off those loans with no assets left at all - and in many cases, no income or job prospects, either.
Let's hope they end up in Federal "Pound Me in the A--" Prison.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.