A federal judge in Houston Monday dismissed a motion by former Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling asking that their criminal charges be dismissed. Jury selection in their joint trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 30.

In the ruling issued Monday denying the motion, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake wrote he was not persuaded by the hearsay-based information in the two men’s affidavits, which was put together by defense attorneys in the case. Lay has been charged with seven criminal counts and Skilling faces more than 20 criminal counts in connection with Enron’s bankruptcy in late 2001. Lay also faces a second criminal trial involving personal banking fraud charges

“The court is not persuaded that defendants have shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the government has substantially interfered with the ability of defense counsel to interview potential witnesses, or that the government has engaged in any practice that denies defendants the right to a fair trial,” Lake wrote.

In related news, Mark Koenig, who once headed Enron’s investor relations unit, on Monday slightly changed his guilty plea. He said a false statement he confessed to making was actually said by Skilling. Koenig is expected to testify in Skilling and Lay’s trial. In August 2004, Koenig pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting securities fraud, and he agreed to cooperate with the government.

In his original and in the corrected plea papers, Koenig said he and Skilling repeatedly misrepresented facts about the company’s finances to analysts. However, in 2004, Koenig said he specifically lied in a July 12, 2001 analyst conference call by indicating Enron Energy Services was reorganized “to get some more efficiency” instead of admitting it was reorganized to conceal financial losses. In the corrected plea papers, which were accepted by U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein, Koenig said Skilling actually made the false assertion.

The change apparently was made after Koenig heard a tape of the analyst call. The plea agreement still maintains Koenig made other false statements to analysts in the 2001 calls. Koenig faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

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