Lea Fastow, wife of the former Enron Corp. CFO Andrew Fastow, was released from a halfway house in Houston just after midnight Friday, ending a year in prison for failing to declare some of her husband’s profits as income.

Her sister and husband met her at the center, but she had no comment for reporters. Her attorney Mike DeGuerin said Friday that Lea Fastow was now “home with the kids,” referring to the couple’s two sons. He added that she had no comment and wanted some “private time with her family.”

Lea Fastow pleaded guilty in 2004 to a misdemeanor penalty for failing to report on joint income tax returns the gains from money that was pocketed by her husband in his dealings with Enron (see Daily GPI, May 7, 2004). She was the second of the 15 former Enron executives and related figures who have pleaded guilty to begin serving time. Former Treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. is serving a five-year term.

In July 2004, Lea Fastow began her yearlong sentence in a federal detention center in downtown Houston, and was transferred to a halfway house about six weeks ago. She will remain under supervision of a federal parole officer for another year.

Lea Fastow, who is an heiress to the Weingarten real estate and grocery fortune, had been an assistant treasurer at Enron before she quit in 1997 to stay home with her children. She was never accused of any crimes during her time at Enron. She was indicted in 2003.

Andrew Fastow pleaded guilty in January 2004 to two counts of conspiracy (see Daily GPI, Jan. 15, 2004). According to DeGuerin, Lea Fastow convinced her husband to plead guilty. Andrew Fastow agreed to serve the maximum 10-year sentence, but he will not face jail time until after testifying in the upcoming January 2006 trials of former chairman Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling. Andrew Fastow is expected to be sentenced in June 2006.

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