Skilling's Sentenced and Other Musings

Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to 24 years in prison Monday for his role in the fraud at Enron that brought down the nation’s seventh-largest company and came to stand as a symbol for an era of corporate fraud in America. Judge Sim Lake announced the sentence in a packed courtroom in the federal courthouse in Houston.

Skilling was convicted in May on 19 counts of fraud, insider trading and conspiracy while chief executive at Enron. More than 4,000 Enron employees lost their jobs - and many their life savings - when the company declared bankruptcy in December 2001. Investors lost billions.

Jeff Skilling, CEO of the now defunct energy company Enron, was sentenced to 24 years. James Joyner thinks the sentence was probably appropriate given the amount of damage that he and his company did to the nation in its swindling investors and playing fast and loose with the rules.

It's interesting to note that Skilling got 24 years, while Lynne Stewart, who actually undermined US national security by passing communications from convicted and incarcerated terrorists to their followers overseas, was sentenced to just 28 months (and she's intent upon appealing that decision). In Skilling's case, I think the judge got it right.

The judicial system still has a chance to get the Stewart case right, but awaits the decision on appeal.

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