Ceding

Ceding to requests by both the prosecution and the defense, the trial of three former El Paso Corp. natural gas traders accused of reporting false pricing information to industry publications has been delayed for six months. U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon approved a joint motion by government prosecutors and the defense teams that will allow the defendants more time to prepare for their trial. A grand jury issued a superseding indictment against James Brooks, Wesley Walton and James Phillips in September. They were to go to trial in November. However, Harmon moved it to May 14. Brooks, a former managing director of El Paso Merchant Energy, was charged in 2005, and former gas traders Walton and Phillips were charged in 2004 with trying to manipulate published indexes by submitting bogus price information to NGI and Inside FERC’s Gas Market Report between 1999 and 2002 (see NGI, Nov. 7, 2005; Dec. 6, 2004). The superseding indictment in September charged each man with one count of conspiracy, 24 counts of false reporting and 24 counts of wire fraud under the Commodity Exchange Act.