AS SEEN ON TV: KENNETH LAY

Thursday night I went to see "Enron: The Musical". Luckily for me, it was a comp ticket because I found the experience to be dreadful and I escaped at intermission.

I just feel sorry for my friend Mark, who wasted his plus one comp on me when I'm sure there were other friends who would have enjoyed the experience. Mark stayed, not only because he was meeting up with his boyfriend after the show, but also because he was enjoying it. I've since heard from Jennie from Britain that she enjoyed it as well. So it's probably just me.....

Anyway, the experience at least gave me the inspiration for Friday's "As Seen On TV"....

KENNETH LAY

AS SEEN IN:
"The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron"

AS PLAYED BY:
Mike Farrell

From Wikipedia:

Kenneth Lee "Ken" Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006) was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001. Lay was the CEO and chairman of Enron from 1985 until his resignation on January 23, 2003, except for a few months in 2000 when he was chairman and Jeffrey Skilling was CEO.

On July 7, 2004, Lay was indicted by a grand jury on 11 counts of securities fraud and related charges. On January 31, 2006, following four and a half years of preparation by government prosecutors, Lay's and Skilling's trial began in Houston. Lay was found guilty on May 25, 2006, of 10 counts against him; the judge dismissed the 11th. Because each count carried a maximum 5- to 10-year sentence, legal experts said Lay could have faced 20 to 30 years in prison. However, he died while vacationing in Snowmass, Colorado on July 5, 2006, about three and a half months before his scheduled October 23 sentencing.

Preliminary autopsy reports state that he died of a heart attack caused by coronary artery disease. As a result of his death, on October 17, 2006, the federal district court judge who presided over the case vacated Lay's conviction. BCnU!