A judge ordered the former chief executive of Qwest Communications International Inc. to pay US$52 million, the amount the court figures Joseph Nacchio reaped from illegal stock sales.
Nacchio’s sentencing was ongoing Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver. Nacchio could also receive jail time. Prosecutors recommended earlier this month that he serve more than seven years.
The ruling follows a federal grand jury indictment for insider trading and a criminal jury trial that found him guilty of over half of the charges in the federal indictment.
Nacchio was CEO of Qwest from 1997 to 2002. In 2005, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Nacchio with fraudulently boosting the value of company stock by exaggerating information about the company’s network.