RCFL: Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory

[Posted on Wed, May 17, 2006]

Jury Begins Deliberations in Enron Trial

After 14 weeks of testimony from 54 witnesses including Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling, two and a half days of closing arguments from both sides, and a final rebuttal from Sean Berkowitz, Director of the Enron Task Force, the federal jury began deliberations on the fate of the two men. The jury of 8 women and 4 men will weigh all the evidence before them and will decide whether Mr. Lay and Skilling should go free – or possibly spend decades behind bars.

In the weeks following Enron's bankruptcy announcement in 2001, a group of federal prosecutors, and FBI and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents formed the Enron Task Force. The Greater Houston RCFL has supported the task force since its inception— providing a variety of computer forensics services including the examination of hundreds of Enron employees’ computers; processing thousands of e-mails transactions; assisting in discovery requests allowing the defense lawyers access to the same information that the government has, and; applying full text search capabilities to thousands of documents seized during the multi-year investigation. To date, 16 former Enron employees have pleaded guilty to various charges against them.

Skilling faces 28 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors and a maximum of 275 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Lay faces six counts of fraud and conspiracy that carry a maximum penalty of 45 years. On Thursday, Lay goes on trial again before a judge without a jury, and is charged with one count of bank fraud and three counts of making false statements to banks in the case. The government believes that Lay obtained $75 million in loans from 3 banks between 1999-2001 and reneged on agreements not to use the money to carry or buy margin stock. The case is expected to last several days, with the judge issuing a verdict in the banking case after the verdict in the larger conspiracy case is rendered.

The Enron Task Force will continue operating into the foreseeable future.

-end-

[Greater Houston RCFL web site ]

Home | Sitemap | Accessibility Statement | Privacy Policy