Joe Nacchio Found Guilty

[buffettbride]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This man wreaked havoc and almost destroyed the company.

Guilty guilty guilty on 19 counts (out of 42) of iinsider trading. That's up to 10 years in prison per each count and $1M per each count. Now, I doubt he'll get 190 years and $19M fine, but a girl can dream, can't she?

What scum this man is.

How ironic, though, the courthouse where he was tried is right across the street from the Qwest headquaters building.
________________________________________________________

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=68398

DENVER – A jury found former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio guilty on 19 of the 42 counts against him on Thursday afternoon.

He was found guilty of counts 24 through 42 of the 42 count indictment against him and not guilty of counts one through 23.

Each of the counts carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison and a $1 million fine. However, the sentence is expected to be served concurrently and not consecutively.

The jury, made up of eight men and four women, started deliberations last Thursday and made several requests, including writing materials, more copies of the indictment and a master list of evidence. The requests were signed by the airline pilot who identified himself as the foreman.

U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham set a July 19 sentencing date for Nacchio, who is free on $2 million bond. Prosecutors wanted the bond raised to $5 million, but the judge denied the request.

Nacchio's wife and son broke into sobs as the verdict was read.

Nacchio's face initially showed joy as the first counts were read off as not guilty. His expression changed dramatically when the first guilty verdict was read.

When leaving the courthouse, he did not comment to the media and only gave a chuckle when asked of his opinion of the prosecution's case. He walked next to his wife and son who both looked at the ground.

The former head of Qwest Communications was accused of illegally selling nearly $101 million worth of stock in 2001. Prosecutors said Nacchio sold the stock based on inside knowledge that Qwest was at financial risk and might not meet revenue targets.

Defense lawyers said Nacchio believed in Qwest's future and sold the stock legally under the terms of his employment contract.

Prosecutors held a press conference after the verdict was read.

"To hear it in court that Joe Nacchio is a convicted felon - that has a nice ring to it," said U.S. Attorney Troy Eid.

"This has been a long road to get here, but justice is finally served," said U.S. Attorney Cliff Stricklin, the lead prosecutor in the case. "This was about the Qwest workers who lost their hopes and dreams, while others took the easy way out."

During the press conference, traffic could be heard on the nearby streets and one driver shouted out of his window, "Justice is served."

9NEWS Legal Analyst Scott Robinson says it is unlikely Nacchio will serve less than 10 years.

Two former Qwest employees walked by the 9NEWS crew outside of the courtroom and had large grins after they were told what the verdict was. One of them said, "Finally."

The case against Nacchio was filed after the government investigated an accounting scandal at Denver-based Qwest shortly after it acquired U S West, a primary telephone service provider in 14 mostly Western and midwestern states.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has said Qwest falsely reported fiber-optic capacity sales as recurring instead of one-time revenue between April 1999 and March 2002, which forced the company to restate $2.2 billion in revenue.

The SEC has a pending civil fraud lawsuit against Nacchio and other one-time executives at Qwest.

Prosecutors wove a circumstantial case based on the testimony of those who worked closely with Nacchio - a former company president, a one-time chief financial officer, an investor relations executive and business unit managers.

Most testified either under grants of immunity in exchange for cooperation or after pleading guilty to a crime, saying they repeatedly warned Nacchio Qwest would not meet aggressive financial targets for 2001 without relying heavily on revenue from one-time sales. That revenue came from a waning market.

Despite their warnings, Nacchio refused to lower forecasts and did not tell the public how much one-time revenue was included in earnings, the witnesses said.

Nacchio's attorneys narrowly tailored their defense, arguing the ambitious entrepreneur believed Qwest would succeed despite the warnings. They said Nacchio had to sell the shares under terms of his employment contract, particularly 350,000 growth shares sold in early January 2001 for a little more than $14 million, because the company chose to give him shares instead of cash he was owed.

Before trial, defense attorneys argued Nacchio, through his membership on two government panels, was alone among Qwest executives who knew the company could receive lucrative contracts from clandestine government agencies. At trial, attorneys didn't present any direct evidence about classified information.

Nacchio's defense presented just three witnesses. Qwest founder Phil Anschutz and a Roman Catholic abbot testified Nacchio wanted to resign in January 2001 to remain in New Jersey with his family after a son attempted suicide.

The third witness was Daniel Fischel, an author and Northwestern University professor, whose testimony about Nacchio's pattern of stock sales was designed to counter prosecutors' argument that Nacchio accelerated his trades ahead of the worsening financial picture at Qwest. His calculations excluded so-called growth shares that Nacchio sold on Jan. 2 and Jan. 3, 2001.

A former AT&T executive, Nacchio was recruited to transform Qwest from a construction company building a fiber optic network into a telecommunications leader at a heady time for the industry when companies were scrambling for lucrative telephone and Internet customers.

Nacchio oversaw Qwest's entry into public trading and its 2000 takeover of U S West Inc., fostering a new, more aggressive atmosphere where the priorities were not just meeting but exceeding financial targets and following a so-called "golden rule" of never saying anything to cause the stock price to drop, witnesses testified.

Nacchio forecast revenue growth of 15 percent to 17 percent in 2001 and set internal projections even higher, pushing business unit managers to exceed them.

As the telecommunications market began to soften amid aggressive competition in late 2000, competitors expressed concern that there was not enough business to fill the growing number of fiber optic networks carrying voice and data traffic.

In the fall of 2000, Qwest managers warned Nacchio the 2001 financial targets were unrealistic and unattainable. But the CEO refused to reduce internal numbers or lower the forecast, they said. One manager called a final meeting on Qwest's 2001 budget a "sign in blood" session where division managers signed up to meet the targets.

A key point in the prosecution's case was Nacchio's decision to sign an irrevocable commitment in late 2000 to sell the so-called growth shares.

Prosecutors said he decided to sell after hearing worsening news from business managers in early December 2000 but backdated the sales document to Nov. 3, 2000. Defense attorneys insisted that Nacchio gave oral instructions committing to sell the shares in November and that the document was drafted at a later time.

The remaining transactions involved vested stock options that Nacchio exercised and sold from Jan. 26, 2001, to May 29, 2001. About one-third of the overall amount was sold from April 24 to April 27, just weeks after the company issued its first-quarter results.

As Qwest's competitors reduced their financial forecasts late in 2000 because of the weakening market, Nacchio continued to reaffirm his company's guidance.

Two analysts testified that they repeatedly asked how Qwest was meeting its numbers but didn't learn until August 2001 how heavily the company relied on one-time sales to achieve them.


(The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright KUSA-TV. All rights reserved.)

[SMLCHNG]

Was thinking of you when I heard this today, Mal!! !

[buffettbride]

Was thinking of you when I heard this today, Mal!! !

I was so danged excited!!! And to think he was smiling when the first 23 not guilty verdicts were returned. He was guilty of counts 24-42 and seemed to come to a big surprise to him and his defense.

One of the people to testify for the prosecution is my FIL's former boss (she was also prosecuted and plead out).

[bearphin]

Thank God that bastard got his just dessert!!! He ruined lives and retirements of people I know well!!!

Hope he rots in jail!

[ragtopW]

Thank God that bastard got his just dessert!!! He ruined lives and retirements of people I know well!!!

Hope he enjoys his new husband in jail!

fixed it for you..

[chippewa]

Was thinking of you when I heard this today, Mal!! !

I was so danged excited!!! And to think he was smiling when the first 23 not guilty verdicts were returned. He was guilty of counts 24-42 and seemed to come to a big surprise to him and his defense.

One of the people to testify for the prosecution is my FIL's former boss (she was also prosecuted and plead out).

42 counts? How did a jury wade through all that?

[SharkOnLand]

Was thinking of you when I heard this today, Mal!! !

I was so danged excited!!! And to think he was smiling when the first 23 not guilty verdicts were returned. He was guilty of counts 24-42 and seemed to come to a big surprise to him and his defense.

One of the people to testify for the prosecution is my FIL's former boss (she was also prosecuted and plead out).

42 counts? How did a jury wade through all that?

From what I understand, each count was a separate stock trade. The first 23 were before April 16 (I think) and the other 19 were after that. That's supposedly the date he would have been privy to the insider info.

And it's likely he'll just get a max of 10 years in prison, he would likely serve the sentences concurrently, instead of consecutively.

The government has requested like $100 million in restitution though.

[Wino you know]

I guess I probably shouldn't hold my breath waiting for him to pay me the $5.00 he owes me.

[Tequila Revenge]

Thank God that bastard got his just dessert!!! He ruined lives and retirements of people I know well!!!

Hope he enjoys his new husband in jail!

fixed it for you..

That's the problem. These A Holes DON'T go into a real Federal pound you in the......... ummmmm.....general population prison. They end up in a Club Fed.

[buffettbride]

I guess I probably shouldn't hold my breath waiting for him to pay me the $5.00 he owes me.

Hell, I'll mail ya five bucks Garry.

To give y'all an idea of how much this impacts my family..

I work for the company
Hubby works for the company
My FIL works for the company
My step-FIL works for the company
My MIL worked for the company (retired 5 years ago)
Hubby's uncle works for the company

At one time or another during this whole ordeal, there were days whether we didn't know if we would have jobs or not. When MIL left the company, she did so since she was retirement-eligible and she chose to leave versus having to lay someone off from the group. That was after having to let go over over half her team. Not all at once, mind you, but spurts of layoffs over the last six years or so.

It has taken YEARS to rebuild the company back to even 1/2 of what it was when Nacchio took over. Just the last few months I think there has been a real sense among employees that things are loosening up and some of the good things are coming back (like papertowels in the breakroom and no I'm not kidding we had to bring our own).

[CrznDnUS1]

If i were him i'd hop on a fast boat leaving KW and go far away. But most likely he is watched real good. I also hope he rots in jail along with the rest of the BUMS who ruined so many good companies. Now all I am waiting for is the jerks who ran AT&T into the ground to be brought up on some charges.

[buffettbride]

jerks who ran AT&T into the ground to be brought up on some charges.

Oh, Nacchio helped do that to. That's why he left AT&T and started Qwest.

[Wino you know]

I guess I probably shouldn't hold my breath waiting for him to pay me the $5.00 he owes me.

Hell, I'll mail ya five bucks Garry.

To give y'all an idea of how much this impacts my family..

I work for the company
Hubby works for the company
My FIL works for the company
My step-FIL works for the company
My MIL worked for the company (retired 5 years ago)
Hubby's uncle works for the company

At one time or another during this whole ordeal, there were days whether we didn't know if we would have jobs or not. When MIL left the company, she did so since she was retirement-eligible and she chose to leave versus having to lay someone off from the group. That was after having to let go over over half her team. Not all at once, mind you, but spurts of layoffs over the last six years or so.

It has taken YEARS to rebuild the company back to even 1/2 of what it was when Nacchio took over. Just the last few months I think there has been a real sense among employees that things are loosening up and some of the good things are coming back (like papertowels in the breakroom and no I'm not kidding we had to bring our own).

Crap allmighty!
I guess I should send YOU (and your whole family) five dollars.

[SMLCHNG]

A federal judge orders former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio to pay $52 million in assets.

[buffettbride]

A federal judge orders former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio to pay $52 million in assets.

Not only that, but he's ordered to pay the sum in 15 days!!!!!

Here's the link to the full article if anyone's interested!

http://www.9news.com/news/top-article.a ... ryid=74348

[buffettbride]

A federal judge orders former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio to pay $52 million in assets.

Not only that, but he's ordered to pay the sum in 15 days!!!!!

Here's the link to the full article if anyone's interested!

http://www.9news.com/news/top-article.a ... ryid=74348

WOOOHOOOO!!!

6 years and 19M in fines!

http://www.9news.com/news/top-article.a ... ryid=74390

[SharkOnLand]

For some reason, now I want nachos.

[blackjack]

Was this guy's brother the star of Karate Kid?

[Crazy Navy Flyer]

Hey Joe, meet your new cellmate and common law wife Bubba.

[ragtopW]

Hey Joe, meet your new cellmate and common law wife Bubba.

Oh I think Joe will be assuming the wifes duties..