Enron Corp

Five years after Enron Corp. filed for bankruptcy, "Enron -- The Musical" opened Friday in a mostly filled theater here with 2 1/2 hours of toe-tapping songs immortalizing the collapse of the 7th-largest company in America. Though the Enron debacle is a sensitive subject in a city still stinging from lost jobs and retirement savings, the show's author, Mark Fraser, is gambling that at this point, Houstonians are ready to laugh a little.

Federal prosecutors will not challenge a judge's ruling that vacates the conviction of Enron Corp.'s late founder, Kenneth L. Lay, for his role in one of the biggest corporate scandals in U.S. history. Prosecutors on Monday withdrew their notice of appeal in the ruling last month by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who said Lay's death vacated his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges because Lay couldn't challenge the conviction. Prosecutors had filed a notice last week asking the U.S.

Two former Enron Corp. executives received sharply reduced sentences Friday after cooperating with prosecutors to help convict the architects of the biggest scandal in U.S. corporate history . Michael J. Kopper, once the top lieutenant to former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew S. Fastow, was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. An hour later, Mark E. Koenig, the company's former investor relations chief, received an 18-month sentence.

Former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling, convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the biggest corporate scandal in U.S. history, was ordered to report next month to a low-security federal prison in Minnesota. Skilling received the harshest punishment of all Enron executives when he was sentenced on Oct. 23 to a term of 24 years and four months. The former executive will be eligible to shave as many as 54 days a year off his sentence for good behavior in prison.

Two senators hope to end the legal precedent that let Enron Corp. founder Kenneth L. Lay's fraud conviction be cleared from his record after he died. The development has hurt prosecutors' efforts to take $43.5 million in restitution from his estate. Working with the Justice Department, which asked for similar legislation shortly after Lay died in July, Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.

Richard A. Causey, the last of the top Enron Corp. executives to learn his punishment, was sentenced Wednesday to 5 1/2 years in prison for his role in one of the biggest corporate scandals in U.S. history. Causey, the energy trading company's former chief accounting officer, pleaded guilty in December to securities fraud two weeks before he was to be tried along with Enron founder Kenneth L. Lay and former Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling on conspiracy, fraud and other charges.

Former Enron Corp. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow will serve six years in a federal prison in Louisiana for plundering the company while concealing its feeble financial condition. Fastow, 44, had asked to be assigned to a prison in Texas, but was assigned by the Bureau of Prisons to the Federal Detention Center in Oakdale, La. Fastow, who cooperated with prosecutors in other Enron cases, had agreed to serve as long as 10 years. But in September U.S.

Former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling was sentenced to more than 24 years in federal prison Monday for his role in the company's 2001 collapse, one of the longest prison terms to arise from the recent era of corporate scandals. Skilling, who was convicted in May on 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors, had faced 24 to 30 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. "Mr.

Kenneth L. Lay's death wiped away his convictions. Andrew S. Fastow got a reduced six-year sentence. That leaves former Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling as the sole top Enron Corp. executive who could be given at least 20 years in prison when he is sentenced today for helping orchestrate the biggest corporate scandal in U.S. history.