Skilling gets a few more days of freedom

NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- The former chief executive of Houston's Enron Corp. won't have to start his 24-year prison term just yet.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans said it needed more time to decide whether Jeff Skilling, 53, should remain free pending appeal, The Washington Post said Tuesday.

Skilling was sentenced to 24 years and six months in prison after being convicted of conspiracy, making false statements, insider trading and securities fraud in a billion-dollar accounting scandal that brought down the once-mighty energy trader and cost thousands of workers their pensions.

If he ends up going to prison, it will be to a 1,070-inmate federal facility in Waseca, Minn., about 75 miles south of Minneapolis.

"We are glad to hear that the court of appeals is taking the necessary time to consider this matter, which is vital to Jeff Skilling's immediate future," Skilling's lawyer, Daniel M. Petrocelli, said.