In Houston on Friday, U.S. District Judge Frances Stacy added restrictions to ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s $5 million bond after an altercation in New York City last month (see Daily GPI, April 13). Stacy told Skilling she will revoke his bond unless he gets both alcohol and mental health treatment, follows a curfew and gets a job or does volunteer work.

Details of the incident, which allegedly occurred in Manhattan, were not part of the 30 minute hearing. Previously, prosecutors said that Skilling was taken to a hospital and his blood level was 0.19, which is almost twice the legal limit in several states. Prosecutors told the judge that Skilling had violated his bond with his intoxication, allegedly trying to lift a woman’s blouse in search of a wiretap and for attempting to steal the license plate off of an automobile.

Stacy told Skilling, “personally, I can’t imagine what good thing can happen outside of your home between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.” The judge declined to increase the bond to $7 million, as prosecutors requested, and she did not restrict his travel to inside Texas without court permission. Instead, Skilling’s pre-trial officer will determine the hours of the curfew and the conditions he must meet when he is out of town on vacation or when he is working with his legal representatives outside of Texas. Skilling apparently began treatment for alcohol abuse two weeks ago.

Stacy also told Skilling she wanted him to do a few hours of community service work, even though his attorney, Dan Petrocelli, said the defense was a full-time job for him. The initial bond restrictions set in February included community service or a job.

“Some kind of work has to be done,” said Stacy.

Stacy also listened to prosecutor Linda Lacewell’s complaint that Skilling, while driving in his Houston neighborhood of River Oaks, saw another Enron defendant who already has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors. Skilling apparently honked at him and yelled, “Hang in there.”

Stacy said that greeting his neighbors would be all right, but she warned him not to contact cooperating witnesses.

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