A federal judge on Thursday sentenced former Dynegy Inc. tax executive Jamie Olis to 24 years in prison for his role in an Enron-style scheme to burnish the company’s finances by disguising a $300 million debt.
The 38-year-old lawyer and accountant was convicted in a November trial of six counts of criminal conspiracy and securities, wire and mail fraud for his role in the complicated 2001 financial transaction dubbed “Project Alpha.” U.S. District Judge Sim Lake also fined Olis $25,000.
Lake, who also presided over Olis’ trial, said he took no pleasure following the federal guidelines in handing down such a stiff sentence for a first-time offender.
“Sometime good people commit bad acts, and that is what happened in this case,” Lake said after handing down the sentence.
Probation officials had recommended a sentence of between 24 and 30 years, five years shy of the maximum, based on the massive losses Dynegy shareholders suffered as a result of Project Alpha’s repercussions.
Olis had no reaction to the sentence, read in a courtroom filled with his family, supporters and ex-Dynegy colleagues.
Olis never profited directly from the scheme, but was awarded two annual bonuses totaling $195,000.
Olis, who worked in the Houston-based energy merchant’s tax department, was a key engineer of Alpha, which dressed up a $300 million loan as a five-year gas trade to help boost cash flow. The judge said he will let Olis turn himself into the bureau of prisons.
