Prison

A federal judge has sentenced Tim DeChristopher, 29, to two years in prison for disrupting a Bureau of Land Management lease auction in Utah in December 2008. U.S. District Judge Dee Benson also fined DeChristopher $10,000 and gave him three years of probation. In March a jury found the Universithy of Utah economics student guilty of one count of violating the federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act and two counts of providing false statements. DeChristopher falsely bid on 13 lease parcels covering 22,000 acres near Utah’s Arches and Canyonlands national parks on Dec. 19, 2008 (see NGI, Jan. 5, 2009). He reportedly disrupted the auction over climate change concerns.

Former Houston gas trader Stephanie Roqumore was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Houston to six years in federal prison without parole for defrauding numerous natural gas trading companies of nearly $8 million. In February Roqumore, 48, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, admitting that from March 2002 through April 2010 she used fraudulent financial statements to defraud 12 companies (see NGI, Feb. 14). She was ordered to pay $7.8 million in restitution to the victim companies.

Former Houston gas trader Stephanie Roqumore was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Houston to six years in federal prison without parole for defrauding numerous natural gas trading companies of nearly $8 million.

Joseph Hirko, the former CEO of Enron Corp.’s failed broadband business, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for lying to investors to boost the former company’s stock price. Hirko, who was first indicted in 2003, also agreed to pay $8.7 million in restitution (see Daily GPI, May 2, 2003). Hirko was one of five former Enron Broadband Services executives who were first tried in 2005; their trial ended in a hung jury. Hirko had previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Before he was sentenced in Houston by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore, Hirko apologized for his actions. “I’ve always tried to be an example for my kids, to show them by my actions to do right. I can’t do that anymore. The best I can do is stand here before you and accept responsibility for my actions.”

Jamie Olis, 38, a former tax executive for Dynegy Inc., was sentenced Thursday to 24 years in prison for his role in disguising the company’s finances within a transaction dubbed “Project Alpha,” which hid $300 million in debt.

A former natural gas trader for Reliant Energy on Tuesday received the maximum 57-month prison sentence for providing false trading data to index publishers in 2000. Jerry Futch pleaded guilty last year, but he had asked the court to throw out his indictment last month (see Daily GPI, Feb. 15).

Daniel Gordon, 29, who formerly headed energy trading for Merrill Lynch & Co. and then Allegheny Energy, on Friday was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for embezzling $43 million from the investment banker.

Jamie Olis, 38, a former tax executive for Dynegy Inc., was sentenced Thursday to 24 years in prison for his role in disguising the company’s finances within a transaction dubbed “Project Alpha,” which hid $300 million in debt.

Two former Dynegy Inc. executives face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines after they pleaded guilty last Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud for their part in Project Alpha, a scheme that disguised a $300 million loan as a natural gas trade. The former executives, who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, are scheduled to be sentenced in October.