ATTENTION ALL POTENTIAL VICTIMS
United States v. Rex Shelby and Joseph Hirko – Court Docket Numbers: 3-093-4 and 3-093-7
(Appeal-5th Cir. 06-20691 and 06-20593) – Re-trial pending
Joseph Hirko entered a guilty plea on October 14, 2008 before Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore to one count of a superseding indictment charging him with wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. Sentencing for defendant Joseph Hirko has been postponed from April 27, 2009 to September 28, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Gilmore in Courtroom 9A, United States Courthouse, 515 Rusk Avenue, Houston, Texas.
Pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, Hirko faces a maximum sentence of up to 16 months in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 at his sentencing, which will be scheduled at a later date. As part of his plea agreement, Hirko has agreed to cooperate fully with the government’s ongoing criminal prosecution of individuals at EBS.
In addition, Hirko has agreed to forfeit approximately $8.7 million for purposes of restitution to the Enron victims through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enron Fair Fund. Sentencing for defendant Joseph Hirko is set for April 27, 2009. Although the plea agreement requires Hirko to withdraw and relinquish for all purposes all rights to his interest in the settlement awarded in connection with the liquidation of his claim in Enron's bankruptcy (In Re Enron Corp et al., Case No. 0 1-16034 (S.D.N.Y.)), the prosecutors have been advised that, under the terms of his award settlement with Enron Creditor’s Recovery Corp, upon acceptance of his guilty plea, his settlement award in the approximate amount of $1,760,000 will revert back to Enron Creditor's Recovery Corp. to be disbursed to other creditors in the bankruptcy, and, as such, will not be forfeited in the criminal proceeding. However, this development will not void Hirko's plea agreement. Therefore, a total of $7,000,000 will be forfeited to the SEC’s Enron Fair Fund.
Defendant Rex Shelby's February 2, 2009 trial has been postponed pending the resolution of defendant Scott Yeager's appeal before the United States Supreme Court. A pre-trial conference has been set for September 8, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Gilmore in Courtroom 9A, United States Courthouse, 515 Rusk Avenue, Houston, Texas
*** *** If you believe you were a victim in the U.S. Joseph Hirko case, you have a right to submit a Victim Impact Statement in the form of a letter before sentencing to explain how the crimes affected you and/or your family. Victim Impact includes physical, emotional and/or financial loss. Victim Impact Statements or written victim statements should be completed and mailed to: United States Probation Office, Attn: Gail Winkler, Supervising U.S. Probation Officer, US P.O. Box 61207, Houston, TX 77208-1207.
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