The Enron trial:

I had a call from the New York Times yesterday and I assumed it was about the Enron scandal and the verdict of guilty for Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. After all, I worked as a consultant to Enron for over 20 years and as an employee for 5 years before Lay took over . But no, they wanted to know how to get in touch with former Congressman Charlie Wilson. Also known as good time Charlie. They were following another lead to the poker and hooker story about corruption in D.C. at the Watergate Hotel and wanted to interview Charlie. I told them he lives in DC and should be a registered lobbyist and should not be too hard to find.

But that call made me stop and look within my feelings about what happened to Lay and Skilling yesterday. It is almost the end to the Enron story and for me a sad ending. I knew Ken Lay for almost 30 years and I always liked and respected him. I had little contact with Skilling but always thought him to be very smart. Even after reading about Lay’s testimony in the trial I had hoped that Ken would not be found guilty of the more serious offenses and that his punishment would not be too long or too tough. But it now appears that both he and Jeff could be spending most of the rest of their lives in a federal prison. Were they guilty of looking the other way? Yes from what I read about the trial they were. Did they line their pockets while others lost millions? Yes. (I had 1000 shares of Enron when it went down) But to send them to prison for the rest of their lives seems to me to be a major waste of their brain power and abilities. Just think of what they could do for the rest of their lives if they were to concentrate on solving hunger in this country or educating our children. To put them in the same cell block as common criminals seems to me to be a punishment that does not fit the crime. But that is the system we operate under and they should have known that could be the consequences of their actions or lack thereof.

The Congress has passed tough sentencing guidelines and the Judge will have little discretion on how long they must serve in prison. It will be a long time.

So it is sad for the former employees of Enron who lost everything including their pensions, for the stockholders and for the families of Ken and Jeff. It is sad that a company I worked for for almost 25 years is no more.

If only one could turn back the clock and start over. If only Ken and Jeff had asked some more questions. If only……