Federal judge holds hearings to determine new sentence for former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio

Judge holds hearings to re-sentence ex-Qwest CEO

DENVER — A federal judge in Denver is holding hearings to help determine a new sentence for former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio on insider trading convictions.

Nacchio was sentenced in 2007 to serve six years in prison, pay $19 million in fines and forfeit $52 million, but a federal appeals court ruled the sentence was too harsh because a judge miscalculated Nacchio’s net gains from stock sales allegedly based on insider information.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger has indicated she could announce a new sentence Thursday.

On Tuesday, the government presented a professor who testified about his analysis of how much Nacchio gained from insider trading. Defense attorneys plan to present their own expert Wednesday.

Nacchio resigned from Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc. in 2002.

His lawyers have pushed for a sentence of three years and five months in prison and a $3.6 million fine. They have described him as a working-class couple’s son who rose to become the No. 3 executive at AT&T Inc. before leading Qwest.

Prosecutors have countered that a $19 million fine and a forfeiture of $44 million are appropriate for someone who, they say, acted out of greed and used his position to mislead investors.

Nacchio, who started serving his prison sentence last year in Pennsylvania, has waived his right to attend the re-sentencing hearings.