Jeffrey Skilling
Former CEO of Enron Corporation
- Entries
- 11
- On the record
- 10
- Stories
- 1
- Latest entry
- Aug 30, 2018
The record
Jeffrey Skilling built Enron's wholesale business from 1990, became the company's president and chief operating officer in 1997, and was chief executive from February 2001 until he resigned on August 14, 2001, about four months before Enron went bankrupt, according to the Fifth Circuit. In February 2004 the SEC charged him with fraud, alleging he sold more than one million Enron shares while holding material non-public information, and the Justice Department's Enron Task Force filed parallel criminal charges.
A Houston jury convicted him in May 2006 on 19 counts and acquitted him on nine insider-trading counts, and Judge Sim Lake sentenced him to 292 months. His appeals then ran for six years. The Fifth Circuit upheld the convictions but threw out the sentence in 2009. In 2010 the Supreme Court narrowed the honest-services fraud statute to bribes and kickbacks and sent the case back; the Fifth Circuit found the error harmless in 2011, and the Supreme Court declined further review in 2012.
In 2013 he agreed with prosecutors to drop all further challenges and not contest the forfeiture, and was resentenced to 168 months, with about $42 million going to victims. The SEC's civil case against him closed in December 2015 with a permanent bar from serving as an officer or director of a public company. CBS News reported in August 2018 that he had been moved to a halfway house.
Roles and honours on the record
Every entry, newest first
- Ruled
A jury found Skilling guilty on 19 counts and not guilty on nine counts of insider trading. Biggest celebrity frauds ranked: Ebbers's $11B WorldCom first
Stories in this file
The record, entry by entry
- 2004-02-19 Filed The SEC charged Skilling with fraud, alleging that he sold more than one million Enron shares while in possession of material non-public information, for unlawful proceeds of about $63 million. The Justice Department's Enron Task Force filed related criminal charges. SEC press release 2004-18
- 2006-05-25 Ruled A federal jury in Houston found him guilty of one count of conspiracy, 12 counts of securities fraud, one count of insider trading and five counts of making false statements to auditors. U.S. Department of Justice press release
- 2006-10-23 Ruled U.S. District Judge Sim Lake sentenced him to 292 months in prison. U.S. Department of Justice press release
- 2009-01-06 Ruled The Fifth Circuit affirmed his convictions in all respects but vacated the sentence, holding that the trial court erred in adding an enhancement for substantially jeopardizing a financial institution. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, opinion, No. 06-20885
- 2010-06-24 Ruled In Skilling v. United States, the Supreme Court held that pretrial publicity did not deny him a fair trial, but confined the honest-services fraud statute to bribery and kickback schemes, which his conduct did not involve. It vacated in part and remanded for a ruling on whether the error was harmless. U.S. Supreme Court, opinion, No. 08-1394 (LII copy)
- 2011-04-06 Ruled On remand, the Fifth Circuit held that submitting the honest-services theory to the jury was harmless, affirmed the convictions on all counts, and again vacated the sentence for resentencing. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, opinion on remand, No. 06-20885
- 2012-04-16 Ruled The Supreme Court denied his second petition for certiorari; Justice Kagan took no part. U.S. Supreme Court, docket No. 11-674
- 2013-06-21 Ruled Under a May 2013 agreement in which he waived all appeals and agreed not to contest the forfeiture and restitution order, Judge Lake resentenced him to 168 months and ordered him to forfeit about $42 million toward restitution for Enron's victims. U.S. Department of Justice press release
- 2015-12-08 Ruled The court granted the SEC summary judgment in its civil case, based on his criminal convictions and his non-opposition, permanently enjoining him and barring him from serving as an officer or director of a public company. SEC Litigation Release No. 23422
- 2018-08-30 Reported CBS News reported that Skilling had been moved to a halfway house; the Bureau of Prisons declined to disclose its location. CBS News report
Documents
- Opinion, United States v. Skilling, 5th Cir. No. 06-20885 (Jan. 6, 2009)
- Opinion, Skilling v. United States, No. 08-1394 (June 24, 2010)
- Opinion on remand, United States v. Skilling, 5th Cir. No. 06-20885 (Apr. 6, 2011)
- Docket, Skilling v. United States, No. 11-674
- SEC press release 2004-18, SEC charges Jeffrey K. Skilling with fraud
- Justice Department release on resentencing to 168 months (June 21, 2013)