2006年VOA标准英语-Enron Defendants Guilty

By Greg Flakus
Houston
25 May 2006

Jeff Skilling, center, flanked by lawyer Dan Petrocelli and police officers walk to Houston courthouse for verdict  
  

The jury in the Enron fraud and conspiracy¹ trial Thursday delivered guilty verdicts on all six charges against former Chairman Ken² Lay and 19 out of 28 counts against former Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling. The two men now face possible life in prison, but attorneys for both defendants³ say they will appeal the convictions.

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After only six days of deliberation, the Enron jury came back to the courtroom to deliver its verdicts. Ken Lay sighed deeply as the guilty verdict was read and Jeff Skilling looked down at the floor and remained silent.

Federal Prosecutor⁴ Sean Berkowitz hailed the jury's decision.

"The jury has spoken and they have sent an unmistakable message to board rooms across the country: You cannot lie to shareholders⁵, you cannot put yourselves in front of your employees interests, no matter how rich and powerful you are, you have to play by the rules," he said.

But defense⁶ lawyers do not see this as the end of their work. Jeff Skilling's attorney, Daniel Petrocelli said the jury's decision is only the beginning of another long legal battle.

"Obviously, it did not come out the way we had hoped. It does not change our view of what happened at Enron and it certainly does not change our view of Jeff Skilling's innocence," he said.

Petrocelli said he will file "a full and vigorous appeal," but he did not say on what grounds.  Skilling said he was prepared to move forward with the legal fight.

"We are going to have to go back and think this thing through. Obviously, we are disappointed, but that is the way the system works," said Mr. Skilling.

In the four-month long trial, Lay and Skilling claimed they knew nothing of the fraudulent financial schemes being carried out inside Enron. They blamed former Chief Finance Officer Andrew Fastow for the fraud and blamed the downfall of Enron on a panicked market, driven by negative articles in such publications as Fortune Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

Speaking to reporters after they had appeared in court, jurors said they did not accept that defense. They said Fastow and other former executives who testified under plea bargain agreements with the government told a consistent story about what had happened and that the Lay and Skilling defense did not hold up under scrutiny⁷.

One juror, who said he was a school principal, gave the defendants a failing grade.

"I cannot say that I do not know what my teachers are doing in the classroom," he explained.  "I am still responsible if a child gets lost.  I did get a phone call from school while I was here serving on the jury, because they are looking for the principal.  So to say that you did not know what was going on in your company is not the right thing."

The jury's work in this case is now over and the sentencing task will be carried out by the federal judge who presided over the trial, Judge Sim Lake. He has a great deal of discretion⁸ under federal guidelines and could sentence the defendants to as little as probation⁹ on some counts, but could also impose lengthy¹⁰ prison sentences that would effectively keep both Lay and Skilling in prison for the rest of their lives.

Both men are free on bond for the time being, but the judge ordered both to turn over their passports in order to prevent them from leaving the country.

Former Enron employees, who lost their jobs and pensions when the company collapsed¹¹ in late 2001, rejoiced Thursday.  Many of them came to the courthouse downtown to express their satisfaction with the outcome of the trial.

Enron was at one time the seventh largest US corporation and its demise¹² shook confidence in the US stock market at a time when investors¹³ were still reeling from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It was also the first in a string of highly publicized corporate¹⁴ scandals in which high-ranking executives were charged with fraudulent accounting¹⁵ schemes.

1 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

2 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

3 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

5 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

8 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

9 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

10 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

11 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

12 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

13 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

14 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

15 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。