U.S. Supreme Court denies Nacchio again

By Andy Vuong
The Denver Post

November 30, 2009

The U.S. Supreme Court, which in October denied Joe Nacchio's petition for a review of his insider trading conviction, today rejected the former Qwest chief executive's request for reconsideration.

The denial was issued without comment. The court did not solicit additional filings from the government before making its decision.

Nacchio was convicted in 2007 on 19 counts of insider trading connected to his sale of $52 million in Qwest stock.

He filed an appeal to the Supreme Court in March and began serving a six-year prison term in April.

After the high court refused to review his conviction in October, Nacchio's attorneys filed the request for rehearing.

Nacchio still has a resentencing pending before the U.S. District Court in Denver. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted him a new sentence in July, ruling that the trial judge miscalculated when he sentenced Nacchio to six years in prison and ordered him to pay $71 million in fines and forfeitures.

Nacchio has also filed a request for a new trial with the district court, claiming that new evidence emerged during a civil fraud case brought against him and several other former Qwest officials by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nacchio's attorney, Maureen Mahoney, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment today.

Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com