Ex-Enron executive gets 2 years' probation

Oct. 7, 2006, 1:34AM
Ex-Enron executive gets 2 years' probation
Rieker receives lenient sentence for cooperation

By KRISTEN HAYS
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Enron Corp.'s former No. 2 investor relations executive who helped link former company Chairman Ken Lay and former CEO Jeff Skilling to fraud in their trial earlier this year will serve probation for two years for insider trading, a judge ruled Thursday.

Paula Rieker, 52, wept before U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon, prompting a court staff member to hand her a box of tissues as she asked for probation. Insider trading carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but Rieker was eligible to serve probation to six months behind bars under federal sentencing guidelines.
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Harmon noted that Rieker "abused a position of trust" with Enron and its shareholders by trading on inside information and helping Enron paint a falsely rosy picture of itself to Wall Street.
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Prosecutors told Harmon they supported a lenient punishment.

"Mrs. Rieker has expressed remorse and regret for what she has done, which is in stark contrast to other individuals," said Sean Berkowitz, director of the Justice Department's Enron Task Force.

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