Troy Eid, U.S. Attorney for Colorado, announced today that he has appointed Cliff Stricklin to serve as first assistant U.S. attorney and lead prosecutor in the criminal insider trading case against former Qwest chief executive Joseph Nacchio.
Stricklin, an experienced federal prosecutor and former judge, most recently served on the Enron Task Force where he was one of four attorneys to present evidence in the trial against former Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling.
He was also the co-lead prosecutor in the securities and accounting fraud case against five executives from Enron’s Broadband division.
Nacchio faces 42 counts of illegal insider trading connected to his sale of $100.8 million in Qwest stock in early 2001. Prosecutors allege he knew that the company’s finances were faltering.
Nacchio has pleaded not guilty.
