CNN wants us to believe: Lay, Skilling face hard road

[liberal N proud]

The Chimpy News Network spin works for friends of the bu$h regime as well as the regime itself...

Lay, Skilling face hard road

The chances of winning on appeal look slim, and prison terms could be 20 years or more, legal experts say.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Jeffrey Skilling was once a hard-charging poster boy for energy deregulation. Kenneth Lay was once a big political fund-raiser for George W. Bush.

Now both of the former Enron executives are likely to spend a big chunk - if not all - of the rest of their lives behind bars. Skilling and Lay were found guilty Thursday of conspiracy and fraud in one of the most infamous corporate crime trials of the new century.

"Nine out of 10 times appeals hinge on argument that the judge didn't accurately describe the law to jurors," said Donald Langevoort, Thomas Aquinas Reynolds Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School. "Eight out of 10 times the argument fails."

"People in Houston are still very engaged," said Langevoort. "If that crowd is in the courtroom or on the courthouse steps - literally or figuratively - the judge will be aware of that at sentencing time. I have no doubt 20 to 30 years is well within the realm of possibility."

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/26/news/newsmakers/enron_next/index.htm?cnn=yes

[Warpy]

1. My guess is five years

because Lay is getting on in years and both of them know where a lot of bodies are buried and besides they're wearing such nice suits and they look like such pillars of the community and they're certainly not like those scruffy potheads with the dreadlocks sitting in vacant lots in bad neighborhoods, obviously up to no good.

In any case, I expect the appeals process to keep them out of jug for at least a couple of years, after which they'll get minimum security and an enormous reduction in their original sentences for good behavior because they're such fine and upstanding churchgoing WASP men.

And that's if Stupid doesn't pardon them on his last day in office.

The last thing I expect in this case is justice for the millions of people whose hope was destroyed because they were scammed out of their retirement.

[Spazito]

2. I agree, "white collar crime" is seen as a victimless crime when

it comes to sentencing, imo. The focus is on the money and not on the victims who's lives have been devastated by the actions of the "white collar" criminals.

[lostnfound]

3. Greg Palast: they've got Al Capone on evasion, but energy mob continues

The curious question for me is whether Lay will get a pardon in December 2008.

[kestrel91316]

12. Bush won't even wait that long, I bet. He is arrogant enough to

pardon Lay and Skilling right away.

[BlueEyedSon]

4. AAAAAwwwwwwwwww

:nopity:

[Zynx]

5. Well, they only committed very serious crimes...

thus, under the good old fashioned Republican standard of "justice" we should throw the whole book at them and give them the maximum possible.

[liberal N proud]

7. Doesn't that usually amount to an appointment in the bu$h regime?

[papau]

9. LOL - :-) n/t

n/t

[Toots]

10. Or possibly the "Medal of Freedom"

It is the Capitalist way...

[aquart]

6. Too damn bad.

They destroyed thousands of lives, in America and elsewhere.

And never forget, they bankrolled Florida 2000.

Personally, I think they should be fair game in a canned hunt.

[Divernan]

8. At worst they will be in a Club Fed w/tennis courts, beaches, etc.

Check out the Club Feds in Alabama and Florida. I don't have time to google it now - but I've been to the one in Alabama - no bars, no walls, great landscaping, which the residents are assigned to keep trimmed and mowed. They get weekends off of "work" duty The Florida one has a beach on the grounds where they can go sunbathing and nearby resort hotels where their visitors can stay. They have bridge clubs! 30% of the residents are white collar criminal; the rest have drug related convictions. Atty. Gen. John Mitchell spent was sentenced to 19 months in one. I saw former W. VA governor Arch Moore when I went to one to take a deposition of a former senior law firm partner who had ripped off millions from trust funds set up by wealthy parents for mentally retarded family members. A Baltimore Raven football player caught in a drug sting did time there too.

[KharmaTrain]

11. Why Aren't They In Orange Jumpsuits Right Now?

This wasn't a traffic ticket...these goons were convicted on multiple charges in a Federal criminal case. These guys defrauded billions from millions of people and still are roaming free. Even Martha Stewart got led out in shackles...these crooks appear to have until September to party and off-shore their booty...knowing they'll only serve a few years (if they aren't given a pardon/early release on 1/19/09).

Lock 'em up...throw away the key...bring on the DeLay trial!!!