A former assistant treasurer of the US energy giant Enron Corp. has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, admitting lying or withholding information from credit rating agencies.
His name is Timothy DeSpain, 39, and he is the 15th person to plead guilty in the Enron probe.
DeSpain told U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein he complied with direction from his bosses -- Jeffrey McMahon in 1999 and early 2000 and then Ben Glisan Jr., both Enron?s treasures, through November 2001 -- not to discuss the extent of some shady financing deals. He told the judge a 1999 deal in which Enron wrongly counted a sale of treasury securities as cash flow was known to "the chief accounting officer," who at that time was Richard Causey.
Glisan pleaded guilty to conspiracy a year ago and is serving a five-year sentence. Causey has pleaded innocent to more than 30 counts of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and insider trading and is awaiting trial. McMahon has not been charged with any crimes.
In exchange for his cooperation, DeSpain would not be charged with crimes he may have committed with Enron or his subsequent employer, Halliburton Co., the agreement said.
