Federal prosecutors said Thursday they will ask a Houston judge to reconsider a ruling that resulted in the dismissal of charges concerning false energy reporting against two former energy traders last month. The ex-traders, who worked for El Paso Corp. and Dynegy Inc., still face related charges for wire fraud.

According to a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Mike Shelby, prosecutors will ask U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas to reconsider a ruling she made in late August that tossed the criminal indictments against ex-El Paso trader Todd Geiger and Michelle Valencia, a former trader for Dynegy (see NGI, Sept. 1).

Atlas ruled that the law under which Geiger and Valencia were charged, the Commodity Exchange Act, violated the Constitution because it was too broad. Atlas said the indictments on false reporting lacked a requirement that the person charged had shown intent and not just made false statements, which are protected as free speech.

Geiger and Valencia both pleaded innocent and remain free on bond. Hearings to schedule their trials are set for Sept. 29. Geiger was indicted last December on charges that he reported 48 false energy trades in November 2001 to Inside FERC, a Platts publication. Valencia was charged in January with reporting 43 bogus energy trades to the same publication. Platts said that none of the figures provided were used to calculate gas price indexes.

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