Causey gets 5.5 years; Skilling bound for Gopher State

Another former Enron executive learned his fate — at least his short-term fate — in court yesterday: Richard Causey, the company's ex-head accountant, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for his role in helping maintain Enron's accounting fraud. The sentence is 18 months less than the seven-year maximum Causey agreed to serve last year when he pleaded guilty to securities fraud, but it's far less than he could have ended up with had he gone to trial and been found guilty.

The five-and-a-half-year sentence is the third-harshest given to former Enron execs: Ex-CEO Jeff Skilling, Causey's former boss, got a 24-year, four-month term, and former CFO Andy Fastow — Causey's peer at the company — was given a six-year sentence. The difference wasn't the number of charges against Causey; rather, it was partly his plea deal and partly that Causey wasn't accused of self-dealing like Fastow was.

"There were improper things done at Enron. Some of those things were done by me and for that I am profoundly sorry," a visibly nervous Causey told [U.S. District Judge Sim] Lake before learning his punishment. "However, as God is my witness, I never did anything to enrich myself."

Causey will remain free until he's given a surrender date by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which is expected to happen in six to eight weeks.

Speaking of Skilling, he has been ordered to report to a federal prison in Minnesota on Dec. 12. Skilling will spend the next few years at FCI Waseka, located about 75 miles south of Minnesota; it's quite a way from Skilling's choice, the federal prison in Butner, N.C. Skilling has been under home confinement since he was sentenced last month.