Worst Ken Lay Indictment Quote

"As far as we're concerned, this is the last step. It's as if the indictment never occurred."

Said by Samuel J. Buffone, lawyer for the late Ken Lay... from an article in the Washington Post.

Now if only Enron's fraud never "occurred"... or Enron's collapse never "occurred"...

Oh in case you didn't hear, Ken Lay's convictions have been thrown out.

A federal judge in Houston yesterday wiped away the fraud and conspiracy conviction of Kenneth L. Lay, the Enron Corp. founder who died of heart disease in July, bowing to decades of legal precedent but frustrating government attempts to seize nearly $44 million from his family.

The ruling worried employees and investors who lost billions of dollars when the Houston energy-trading company filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2001. It also came more than a week after Congress recessed for the November elections without acting on a last-ditch Justice Department proposal that would have changed the law to allow prosecutors to seize millions of dollars in investments and other assets that Lay controlled.

With the judge's order, Lay's conviction on 10 criminal charges will be erased from the record. "The indictment against Kenneth L. Lay is dismissed," U.S. District Judge Simeon T. Lake III wrote in a spare, 13-page order.

I love that second paragraph too... about Congress not acting to change the law so prosecutors could seize Lay's money. Don't get me wrong, I am angry that the convictions were overturned but I understand that it is a followed precedent... but it is nice to see that Congress couldn't find the time to act on behalf of all those Enron hurt. It is all about priorities...