Thursday, July 26, 2007

Former Qwest CEO Gets Six Year Jail Sentence

Joseph P. Nacchio, 57, the former CEO of Qwest Communications International Inc., was sentenced to 6 years in prison for insider trading. Nacchio was also ordered to forfeit $52 million, pay a $19 million fine and serve two years of supervised release.

http://www.usdoj.gov

  • On April 19, 2007, a federal jury convicted Nacchio of 19 counts of insider trading, covering $52 million in stock sales. The conviction came after 15 days at trial and six days of deliberation. According to the indictment, Nacchio sold Qwest stock from January to September 2001 when he knew, but did not disclose publicly, that Qwest was unlikely to continue to meet its publicly announced earnings targets as that year progressed. In June 2002, Nacchio was forced to resign as CEO, when the companies financial troubles became apparent.