ANDREW FASTOW. In January 2004, Enron treasurer Fastow pleaded guilty to felony fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. In the plea bargain, he agreed to a 10-year prison sentence and to forfeit more than $29 million after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud. (New York Times, January 14, 2004)

The government dropped more than 90 charges against Fastow in return for his cooperation and a guilty plea by his wife, Lea. A former assistant treasurer at Enron, she pleaded to one count of filing a false joint tax return as part of a deal that included a five-month prison sentence. (New York Times, January 14, 2004)

RICHARD CAUSEY. One week later, chief accountant Richard Causey pleaded not guilty after he was indicted on six counts that included securities fraud and conspiracy. (New York Times, January 22, 2004)

JEFFREY SKILLING. Former Enron president, CEO, and COO Jeffrey Skilling surrendered to the FBI on February 19, 2004 and pleaded not guilty to fraud, insider trading, and other charges contained in 42-count indictment by a federal grand jury. The indictment alleged that Skilling conspired with other Enron executives to falsify Enron’s books in an effort to make the failing company appear successful and boost its stock price. Skilling was accused of “unloading” over $60 million worth of his own Enron stock. (Washington Post, February 19, 2004)

LEA FASTOW. Lea Fastow pleaded guilty on May 6, 2004 to a misdemeanor tax crime. She was sentenced to one year at a federal minimum security prison camp for women.

But Lay kept borrowing and repaying, on 20 separate occasions, by selling Enron shares back to the company. In all, he sold $70 million of shares to the company to repay these loans. He even sold the company $2,275,660 of stock on October 26, the day Enron signaled its fiscal dilemma by drawing down its entire $3 billion line of credit. (Newsweek, July 19, 2004)

Finally on September 26, 2001, Lay boasted of Enron’s stock to employees in an online interview. He said he was buying in previous months. But public records showed that was true -- to the tune of about $4 million. But Lay had sold $24 million of stock to Enron in the previous two months. He did not mention that. (Newsweek, July 19, 2004)

Under SEC rules at the time, Lay had to disclose public sales or purchases within 10 days. He could have waited until February 2002 to disclose transactions with Enron itself. Lay should have told his employees about those sales and explained that he was selling for personal reasons but nevertheless believed in the company. Instead, he misled his employees -- and the financial markets -- by omission. (Newsweek, July 19, 2004)

On July 8, 2004, Lay was charged with 11 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, and false and misleading statements in a 65-page indictment. Prosecutors accused Lay of presiding over a massive conspiracy to hide Enron’s rapidly deteriorating finances. (New York Times, July 9, 2004)

The indictment accused Lay of serving as the “principal spokesman” to investors, employees, and credit rating agencies -- and lied to all of them about the health of Enron’s balance sheet. As an example, in September 2001, Lay told employees in an Internet forum that the stock was an “incredible bargain.” (New York Times, July 9, 2004)

Immediately after his indictment, Lay held a nationally broadcast press conference that was arranged by a public relations firm which he had contracted. He took this unprecedented measure in an attempt to convince the American public that he was innocent.