Audit Course

Enron

HOUSTON, May 25 — Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling, the chief executives who guided Enron through its spectacular rise and even more stunning fall, were found guilty Thursday of fraud and conspiracy. They are among the most prominent corporate leaders convicted in the parade of scandals that marked the get-rich-quick excesses and management failures of the 1990's.

The eight women and four men on the jury reached the verdicts after a little more than five days of deliberations. Mr. Skilling was convicted of 18 counts of fraud and conspiracy and one count of insider trading. He was acquitted on nine counts of insider trading. Mr. Lay was found guilty on six counts of fraud and conspiracy and four counts of bank fraud.

The conspiracy and fraud convictions each carry a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison. The insider trading charge against Mr. Skilling carries a maximum of 10 years.

"The jury has spoken and they have sent an unmistakable message to boardrooms across the country that you can't lie to shareholders, you can't put yourself in front of your employees' interests, and no matter how rich and powerful you are you have to play by the rules," Sean M. Berkowitz, the director of the Justice Department Enron Task Force, said outside the courthouse.

Both men are expected to appeal. Judge Simeon T. Lake III, the judge in the case, set sentencing for Sept. 11. Until then, the two men are free on bail. If they lose their appeals, Mr. Skilling and Mr. Lay face potential sentences that experts say they believe will keep them in prison for the rest of their lives. Mr. Skilling, who had few family members in attendance, reacted with little emotion as the verdict was read, briefly searching the audience's faces and later striding confidently alone out of the courtroom ahead of his lead lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed," Mr. Skilling said as he left the courthouse, "but that's the way the system

Once jurors and the judge cleared out...