the story
...he scandal may have tainted his campaign. "We are tickled that Dallas County voters managed to shatter at least four different stereotypes in one fell swoop," the Dallas Morning News said in an editorial. sixth defendant, Enron accountant Sheila Kahanek, was cleared by the jury in the first Enron criminal case to go to trial since the power trader collapsed into bankruptcy in a huge financial scandal in December 2001. The jury convicted former Enron finance director Dan Boyle and former Merrill Lynch (MER.N) bankers Daniel Bayly, Robert Furst, William Fuhs and James Brown for their parts in what prosecutors said was a bogus deal to falsely inflate Enron profits. Each was found guilty of one conspiracy count and two counts of wire fraud and faces up to 15 years in prison. Boyle also was convicted of making false statements to a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating Enron and faces up to five years in prison for that. Brown was found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying about the sale to a federal grand jury and could face an additional 30 years behind bars. Fuhs also faces charges of making false statements to investigators and obstruction of a grand jury related to the barge investigation. The defendants showed no emotion when the verdicts were read and had no comment afterwards. Lawyer Ira Sorkin, attorney for Furst, told reporters, "We intend to appeal. We haven't given up." The jury will hear arguments on sentencing factors from prosecutors and defense lawyers on Thursday, although formal sentencing for the five will not take place until March 2005. Dan Cogdell, Kahanek's lawyer, said she should never have been prosecuted because she resisted terms of the deal. "She no more belonged in this trial than a duck belongs in a bowling alley," he said. According to testimony, the barges, which have generating plants on board to make electricity to put in the local power grid, were sold to Merrill Lynch by Enron, then bought back by an off-the-books partnership set up by then Enron chief financial officer Andy Fastow with a guaranteed profit for Merrill Lynch. Prosecutors said the deal was booked as a sale and a $12 million profit for Enron when it was really nothing but a loan. Disclosure of Enron's use of off-the-books partnerships to stash billions of dollars in debt and falsely bolster profits triggered the company's collapse. Fastow, the mastermind of Enron's bookkeeping schemes, ...