Former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio renewed his request for bail Wednesday.
Nacchio, due to report to federal prison next week to begin a six-year term for illegal insider trading, asked the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to let him remain free while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to review his conviction, perhaps by June.
Nacchio’s request for bail was denied this week by U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger, who suggested his Supreme Court petition was little more than a tactic to delay his incarceration.
Krieger ordered Nacchio to report to a federal prison Tuesday in Pennsylvania.
“The district court’s determination that there is no substantial question (in Nacchio’s appeal) is not entitled to any weight,” attorney Maureen Mahoney wrote in Wednesday’s appellate-court filing.
The judge’s view that Nacchio may have been trying to put off his prison stay with his appeal “is necessarily intertwined with her mistaken view of the merits and rested on a misunderstanding of the undisputed facts,” the petition says.
Nacchio wants the appeals court to stay Krieger’s order to report to the Schuyl kill medium-security facility while it reviews his latest request for bail.
If denied again, Mahoney said, she’ll file a bail request within 48 hours to Supreme Court Associate Justice Ste phen Breyer. She’s asking the appeals court to allow Nacchio to remain free pending Breyer’s decision.
Nacchio was convicted in April 2007 on 19 counts of illegal insider trading connected to his sale of $52 million in Qwest stock.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
