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Enron broadband trial delayed until '05

By KRISTEN HAYS
The Associated Press

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U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore postponed the trial to March 1 — the same month federal prosecutors want to try Enron founder Kenneth Lay, former CEO Jeffrey Skilling and former top accountant Richard Causey.

She agreed to change the trial from Oct. 4 because attorneys for one of the defendants represent a client in another trial scheduled later this month in New Jersey.

"We would like to go to trial as soon as we can," said Prosecutor Sean Berkowitz as the defense attorney in question, Edwin Tomko, insisted the New Jersey case would take place as scheduled.

Berkowitz is part of the prosecution team in the pending case against Lay, Skilling and Causey. Lay has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and lying to banks, and Skilling and Causey have each pleaded not guilty to more than 30 counts of fraud, conspiracy and insider trading.

They are charged in the same indictment. Lay wants a separate trial quickly, while Skilling and Causey want separate trials as well as another year and a half to prepare. The judge in their case is expected to rule on those requests early next month.

Gilmore turned aside defense attorneys' complaints that prosecutors had failed to specify which among millions of documents contained information helpful to the defendants.

"The theme for today seems to be that others should do your work for you," she said.

Gilmore didn't rule on a defense request to move the trial outside of Texas or as far from Houston as Corpus Christi to ensure ability to seat a fair jury.

The broadband unit went bankrupt in December 2001 when its parent company imploded amid revelations of hidden debt and inflated profits. Prosecutors contend the unit never made a profit or lived up to hype that it featured a network that was superior to telecom competitors.

Of the five broadband defendants, Joseph Hirko, F. Scott Yeager and Rex Shelby are charged with fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and money laundering for allegedly touting Enron's broadband network as having capabilities it lacked.
 
Kevin Howard and Michael Krautz are charged with conspiracy and fraud for allegedly faking $111 million in earnings in a video-on-demand deal that flopped.

All five have pleaded not guilty. But two of their former co-defendants have pleaded guilty to different charges and are cooperating with prosecutors.

Former broadband CEO Kenneth Rice admitted to securities fraud in July. On Tuesday, Kevin Hannon, the unit's former chief, admitted to conspiracy. Both said they participated in a scheme to falsely portray the unit as successful.