HOUSTON – Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling has been relocated from a federal prison and entered a halfway house in Texas.
Skilling was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for his role in the once mighty energy giant's collapse, though the sentence was reduced. Though he is no longer in prison, he remains in the care of the prison system. Officials cannot disclose his exact location in Texas for security purposes.
Skilling was convicted in 2006 on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors for his role in the downfall of Houston-based Enron. The company collapsed into bankruptcy in 2001 under the weight of years of illicit business deals and accounting tricks.
Skilling, 59, was the highest-ranking executive to be punished for Enron's downfall. Enron founder Kenneth Lay's similar convictions were vacated after he died of a heart disease less than two months after trial.
Enron's collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work, wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions and rendered worthless $60 billion in Enron stock. Its aftershocks were felt across the city and the energy industry.