DENVER-
Former Qwest Communications executive Thomas W. Hall, the first person sentenced in the telecommunications company’s accounting scandal, has died from brain cancer, his family and attorney said Tuesday. He was 55.
Hall died Monday in Chicago, where he and his wife had moved after leaving the Denver suburb of Cherry Hills Village, attorney Jeffrey Springer said.
Hall’s death came on the day prosecutors in Denver began their insider trading case against former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio. The allegations against Hall and Nacchio were not directly related, but regulators accuse Qwest of massive accounting fraud. Prosecutors brought criminal charges against seven former managers, including Hall.
Hall pleaded guilty in 2004 to a misdemeanor charge of falsifying documents stemming from allegations that he and three other former Qwest managers improperly booked revenue from a deal to connect Arizona schools to the Internet.
His wife, Ann Hall, said he had done nothing wrong.
“He, his family, true friends and business associates knew he was innocent,” she said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
“He was never able to fully reconcile the unfairness of his prosecution. My greatest sadness is that Tom suffered up until and through his battle with brain cancer. … Only through his passing is Tom truly at peace,” she said.
Springer said Hall pleaded guilty to end a long criminal case that had left him broke.
“In my 31 years of practicing law, I don’t remember running into anyone as kind and decent and, frankly, as honest as Tom Hall,” Springer said. “In my opinion, the prosecution of Tom Hall was a travesty.”
Hall had been a senior vice president in Qwest’s global business unit. He and three other former executives were accused of improperly booking nearly $34 million in revenue from the Arizona deal.
They were originally charged with 12 felony counts including conspiracy, securities fraud, making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission and wire fraud. In an April 2004 trial, the jury deadlocked on the charges against Hall and one other defendant and acquitted the other two.
Hall was re-indicted on four counts; he agreed to plead guilty to the single misdemeanor count before his retrial.
Hall testified that he had trusted Qwest’s finance, accounting and legal staff to execute the Arizona transaction properly. He said he broke no laws but took responsibility for failing to keep himself and a subordinate from becoming involved.
Qwest paid $250 million to settle civil fraud claims by the SEC but did not admit or deny the allegations. It also restated billions of dollars in revenue.
Hall is survived by Ann Hall, a daughter and three sisters.
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Associated Press Writer Jon Sarche contributed to this report.
