Suggesting that Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry Samueli deserves to go to prison, a federal judge Monday rejected a deal with prosecutors that would have given the Orange County billionaire probation for lying to regulators about his role in an alleged $2.2-billion stock-option scam.
The government's allegations against Samueli, "if true, warrant a significant prison sentence," U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney wrote in an order delivered to Samueli, his attorneys and prosecutors at a hearing in Carney's Santa Ana courtroom. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Carney could only accept or reject the recommended sentence, not modify it.
The judge took aim in particular at an unusual provision in the plea accord calling for Samueli to pay $12 million to the government. The maximum fine under the charge to which Samueli agreed to plead guilty is only $250,000.
"The court cannot accept a plea agreement that gives the impression that justice is for sale," Carney wrote. Accepting the agreement, he added, would "erode the public's trust in the fundamental fairness of our justice system."
Assistant U.S. Atty. Robb Adkins, the head federal prosecutor in Santa Ana, told Carney that Samueli could be indicted if he didn't agree to a new plea deal. Both sides asked for time to study Carney's ruling and hold discussions. The judge gave them three weeks, and set a hearing for Sept. 29.
Adkins and Samueli defense attorney Gordon Greenberg declined to comment after the hearing.
Samueli, 53, of Corona del Mar has stepped down as chairman and chief technology officer of Broadcom, an Irvine designer of computer chips for mobile phones, Apple Inc.'s iPod and other communications products.
One of Southern California's most prominent philanthropists, he is also the owner of hockey's Anaheim Ducks. The National Hockey League has suspended him pending the outcome of the criminal case, and the University of California is studying whether his name should be removed from the engineering schools at UCLA and UC Irvine, where he has been a major donor.
The judge's decision means that Samueli may now withdraw the guilty plea he entered in June to one felony count of making a false statement to the SEC. That charge carries a maximum prison term of five years, but under federal sentencing guidelines, probation would be considered appropriate for someone like Samueli with no prior record.
