Enron Verdict Reached - Guilty

CNN has the skinny

The jury in the Enron case has reached a verdict, and the decision in the corporate fraud case will be announced in less than an hour, a court clerk announced Thursday.

The jury of eight women and four men reached their verdict on the sixth day of deliberations in the case of Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who were charged with conspiring to hide the financial losses that brought down what was once the nation's seventh-biggest company.

UPDATE:

Enron former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling and founder Kenneth Lay were found guilty Thursday of conspiracy and fraud in the granddaddy of all corporate fraud cases.

On the sixth day of deliberations, a jury of eight women and four men convicted the former executives of misleading the public about the true financial health of Enron, whose collapse in late 2001 symbolized the wave of corporate fraud that swept the United States early this decade.

Skilling was found guilty on 20 counts of conspiracy, fraud, false statements and insider trading. He was found not guilty on eight counts of insider trading.

Lay was found guilty on all six counts of conspiracy and fraud.

In a separate bench trial, Judge Sim Lake ruled Lay was guilty of four counts of fraud and false statements.

Both Lay and Skilling could face 20 to 30 years in prison, legal experts say.