Timeline: Joe Nacchio’s insider trading case:
2001:
—June 20: Morgan Stanley downgrades Qwest stock after analyst questions accounting practices. Qwest Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Nacchio disputes claim.
2002:
— April 4: Qwest says SEC has begun formal inquiry into its accounting practices.
—June 16: Nacchio resigns as chairman and CEO.
—Aug. 20: Qwest avoids bankruptcy with sale of yellow pages business for more than $7 billion.
—Oct. 29: Qwest says it will restate $531 million in improperly recognized revenue and take nearly $11 billion in charges for reduced value of telephone and fiber-optic networks.
—Nov. 15: Qwest says it will erase $358 million in earnings for 2000 and 2001.
2003:
—Feb. 11: Qwest lowers 2000 and 2001 revenue by $2.2 billion and later reports a $35.9 billion loss for 2002.
—Aug. 28: Chief Financial Officer Robin Szeliga leaves company.
2005:
—March 15: SEC charges Nacchio, Szeliga, former CFO Robert Woodruff and four other former executives with orchestrating a financial fraud between 1999 and 2002.
—Nov. 1: Qwest announces a tentative $400 million settlement of shareholder lawsuits stemming from accounting scandal.
—Dec. 20: Federal grand jury indicts Nacchio on 42 counts of insider trading. He pleads not guilty.
2006:
—March 24: U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham declines Nacchio’s request to dismiss indictment.
—Aug. 25: Nottingham rejects Nacchio request to move trial outside of Denver.
2007:
—Jan. 31: California’s teacher pension fund reaches a nearly $47 million settlement with Qwest Communications over a lawsuit claiming the company defrauded the fund of $150 million. Nacchio is ordered to pay $1.5 million.
—March 19: Jury selection begins in Nacchio’s insider trading trail.
—March 20: Prosecutors paint Nacchio as a CEO who illegally sold stock. Nacchio’s defense say he was forced to sell shares but believed in his company’s future.
—March 27: Szeliga testifies against her former boss, saying she had tried to persuade him to reduce a 2001 public revenue forecast because of concerns it was unattainable.
—April 9: Defense rests without Nacchio testifying.
—April 19: Jurors convict Nacchio on 19 of 42 counts after six days of deliberation. He remains free on $2 million bond.
—June 4: Nacchio’s attorneys ask for a new trial at new venue, saying jurors were exposed to “unremitting vituperative public attacks” on their client.
—July 27: Nottingham sentences Nacchio to six years in prison and orders him to forfeit $52 million.
—Aug. 22: A federal appeals court allows Nacchio to remain free on bond pending appeal.
—Dec. 18: Nacchio’s attorneys argue to get conviction overturned.
2008:
—March 17: Three-judge appeals panel orders new trial, saying trial judge incorrectly excluded expert testimony.
—July 30: Federal appeals court agrees to review decision that overturned conviction.
2009:
—Feb. 25: The full 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstates Nacchio’s conviction, says he can be ordered to begin serving prison sentence.
