A former Enron Corp. energy trader who had supervised the company’s West Power Division for the California spot electricity market, pleaded guilty in San Francisco federal court Tuesday for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and for making false statements to federal officials.

Jeffrey Richter, 33, a Houston resident, became the second former Enron trader who has admitted to taking part in a conspiracy to fix California energy prices during the state’s energy crisis in 2000-2001. Besides the wire fraud charge, Richter pleaded guilty to making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office last fall.

Richter had been charged in a criminal information filing submitted under seal Jan. 30 in San Francisco federal court. The filing, which was unsealed on Tuesday, stated that Richter violated statutes related to wire fraud and “making material false statements to a federal agency.” In a hearing before U.S. District Judge Martin J. Jenkins, Richter pleaded guilty to both counts and agreed to cooperate with federal investigators.

Richter was Enron’s supervisor for the short-term trading desk at its West Power Division based in Portland, OR. The desk was responsible for trading power in California’s “day-ahead” and “hour-ahead” energy ancillary services and transmission markets, which are administered by the California Independent System Operator.

Federal investigators charged that between May 2000 and June 2001 the grid operator’s markets were distorted by willful acts of physical withholding of electricity and bidding strategies to circumvent price caps and market rules.

According to Matt Jacobs, an assistant U.S. attorney in San Francisco, Richter admitted to officials that he participated in two fraudulent schemes known at Enron as “Load Shift” and “Get Shorty.” In the “Load Shift” scheme, false power schedules were submitted to the California grid operator so that it would have to take steps to alleviate power movements that would have caused transmission congestion. Enron then was paid to relieve the projected congestion. Under its “Get Shorty” scheme, Enron made an offer to supply the ISO with backup emergency power from sources that were not committed for that purpose.

In an interview last September with federal investigators, Richter apparently made false statements, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Richter was asked about his involvement in Enron’s trading schemes and he “falsely stated that he never intentionally deceived anyone when submitting power schedules.”

The Enron investigation is not over, warned Kevin V. Ryan, a U.S. attorney and member of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force. Ryan, who announced the guilty plea, said, “Other witnesses in this and other cases should be advised that we will prosecute those who impede justice by making false statements to the investigators.”

Richter faces a maximum sentence on each of the two counts of up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, plus restitution. However, Justice officials said that Richter’s sentence may depend on whether he cooperates with the department as its Enron investigation continues. Richter is scheduled to be sentenced in May.

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