JEFFREY SKILLING, the former chief executive of Enron, was last night sentenced to 24 years and four months in jail for his part in masterminding the most notorious corporate fraud in American history.

Skilling, 52, was stony faced as Judge Simeon Lake handed down the sentence. Rebecca Carter, Skilling’s second wife and a former Enron corporate secretary, broke down as she learnt that her husband would remain in jail well into his seventies.

The court denied a request for Skilling to remain free pending an appeal against his conviction. Instead, he was placed under house arrest and must stay at his Houston home for the next few days until he is told to report to the Butner Correctional Facility in North Carolina.

Skilling will be forced to wear an electronic tag until he arrives at the prison, the court heard.

The sentence, the longest term received by any of the Enron defendants, was at the lowest end of federal sentencing guidelines. Judge Lake revealed that the size of the fraud linked to Skilling’s actions was considered by the court to be $80 million, which pointed to a sentence of between 24.3 years and 30.4 years in jail.

The former Enron chief also faces fines of $18 million, a far cry from the $100 million in reparations and fines sought by federal prosecutors.

In reality, the Enron fraud involved much greater sums. Thousands of jobs and $2 billion of pension funds were lost while the 2001 bankruptcy wiped out $60 billion of Enron’s market value.

Skilling was convicted in May on 19 counts of conspiracy and fraud in a joint trial with Kenneth Lay, the former Enron chairman. Skilling was found not guilty of nine counts of insider trading.

The charges against Lay, who died in July, were dropped last week because he had been unable to appeal against his conviction before his death.

Andrew Fastow, the former Enron chief financial officer who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the fraud at Enron in exchange for a lighter sentence, is to be jailed for six years.

Several former Enron employees and other victims of the fraud spoke in court before the sentence was handed down.

Given one last opportunity to address the court before the sentence was handed down, Skilling pledged to clear his name.

“Your honour, I am innocent of these charges,” the former Enron chief told Judge Lake in Houston District Court. “I am innocent of every one of these charges. We will continue to pursue my constitutional rights . . . I feel very strongly about this and I want my friends, my family to know that.”

The former Enron chief also told the court that reports of his arrogance and lack of remorse for the damage caused by Enron’s downfall were untrue.

“I can tell you that’s just the furthest thing from the truth. It has been very hard on me and incredibly hard on my family, incredibly hard on employees of Enron, incredibly hard on my friends and incredibly hard on the community,” Skilling added.

FINAL TALLY FOR A GIGANTIC FRAUD

• Jeffrey Skilling sentenced to 24.3 years in jail
• Guilty of 19 counts of conspiracy and fraud
• Possible $18 million fine still to come
• Fraud attributed to Skilling’s actions by the court valued at $80 million
• Defence cost $30 million
• Request for Skilling’s bail pending appeal denied
• Under house arrest with electronic ankle bracelet
• Andrew Fastow given six years in jail
• Charges against Kenneth Lay dropped after his death

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