As the day of reckoning arrives this week for ex-Enron Corp. CFO Andrew Fastow, his lawyers hope the judge looks kindly upon a sentencing recommendation requesting leniency. Fastow is to be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on Tuesday.

Fastow, who made millions through illegal deals while he worked at Enron, pleaded guilty in 2004 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud (see NGI, Jan. 19, 2004). The plea agreement included a fine of more than $23 million and the loss of most of his property.

In a 24-page sentencing memorandum filed in U.S. District Court in Houston on Tuesday, Fastow’s lawyers said they were basing part of their request for a reduced sentence on “a sample of the many letters from teachers, friends, family, victims, and others who wanted to write the court” (USA v. Andrew Fastow, H-02-CR-665).

In citing the reasons why Fastow’s sentence should be reduced, the filing noted Fastow had been the object of “unprecedented public humiliation” on television, in Congressional hearings, in books, magazines, the Internet and in “written and verbal insults and threats.”

For the past five years, Fastow had “devoted himself to community service in ways that neither seek nor receive recognition, mainly to Meals on Wheels, [Hurricane] Katrina victims, and his small synagogue (teaching children, building a playground and picnic table and ‘sukkahh;’ cutting the grass).”

The letters to the court also speak of Fastow’s “extraordinary love of children,” someone who has “raised the standard of what a father means” in the past five years and is “the Dad I would like to be — my role model.” The memorandum indicated Fastow has taught “his own failings to his children,” and he has helped his children “understand and place trust in the judicial system.”

His two sons, who are eight and 11, “will be devastated to lose him during these critical growing years, and our law could devise no punishment more painful.” The lawyers “respectfully urge that the fact that Mr. Fastow and his family have lost so much already by virtue of his conviction, argue in favor of leniency.”

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt.

In related news, David Delainey, a former Enron executive who testified earlier this year for the prosecution in the trial of former Enron chiefs Jeffrey Skilling and the late Kenneth Lay, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison last Monday by Hoyt.

Delainey, who at various times served as CEO of Enron Energy Services and Enron North America, pleaded guilty in October 2003 to manipulating earnings and insider trading charges, and he agreed to cooperate in the Enron Task Force investigation (see NGI, Nov. 3, 2003).

In the trial, Delainey was considered a key witnesses against Skilling. Delainey testified during the four-month trial that he and other executives, including Skilling, had often lied to investors and employees about Enron’s financial health (see NGI, March 6).

In Houston, Delainey’s lawyer John Dowd asked that his client receive probation, but Hoyt did not agree. Hoyt ordered Delainey into federal custody immediately pending an assignment by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons regarding where he will serve his term. Hoyt also ordered Delainey pay an additional $60,000 to be distributed to a fund set up for Enron victims. Delainey already has forfeited nearly $4.26 million from his Enron earnings to the government, and he paid a $3.74 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“I just want to say I’m so very sorry for my conduct,” Delainey told Hoyt. “I’ve done everything in my power to right the wrong.”

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