U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham held a closed-door hearing on Friday to discuss classified information in the criminal insider-trading case of former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio.
The hearing lasted for an hour in federal court in Denver. Nacchio’s attorneys, Herbert Stern and John Richilano, declined comment afterward, as did Assistant U.S. Attorney Cliff Stricklin. Nacchio did not attend.
Nacchio faces 42 counts of illegal insider trading. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The trial is set to begin March 19 and could last up to eight weeks.
Nacchio’s attorneys plan to use classified information to defend him against charges that he sold $100.8 million in Qwest stock in early 2001 while he knew the company’s finances were deteriorating.
