Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling Convicted

Well, it looks like Bush's good ol' buddy, "Kenny Boy" Lay will be seeing the inside of a jail cell. Mr. Lay, who once had his own desk in the West Wing, was found guilty on bank fraud and making false statements. The jury deliberated for only six hours before returning the guilty verdict. Lay was released on $5 million bond pending his sentencing.

Enron Leaders Found Guilty
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 26, 2006; Page A01

HOUSTON, May 25 -- A federal jury found former Enron chairman Kenneth L. Lay guilty of every one of the half-dozen counts with which he was charged and convicted his protege Jeffrey K. Skilling of 19 more on Thursday, pinning them with responsibility for one of the era's biggest and most damaging business frauds.

Jurors deliberated for less than six days over a trial that took almost four months and was more than four years in the making. As they filed back into the courtroom, jurors avoided eye contact with the defendants and their families. Skilling rose first and stood impassively, holding his hands pressed together in front of him and exchanging words with his brother, while the judge read aloud "guilty" after "guilty."

Lay, who sat beside his weeping wife and daughter, bowed his head at Skilling's predicament, then stood and braced himself as the judge handed down a rapid-fire series of guilty verdicts against him. Relatives and friends of both men buried their heads in their hands and murmured "no" as individual jurors affirmed their ruling.

Moments after the verdicts, U.S. District Judge Simeon T. Lake III asked Lay to stand for a second time, finding him guilty of four counts of bank fraud and making false statements in a separate trial, related to personal loans. The judge then demanded that the once-powerful executive who had dominated this city's business and cultural circles surrender his passport and fork over a $5 million bond. At the bond hearing, Lay's wife and three of the couple's children pledged their homes on the promise that he would not abscond before he is sentenced.

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