Samueli admits guilt

LOS ANGELES, June 23 (UPI) -- Henry Samueli, a co-founder of Broadcom Corp. and owner of the NHL's Anaheim Ducks, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles Monday to a felony stock option charge.

Under the plea deal reached with federal prosecutors, the billionaire businessman will pay $12.2 million in penalties and will be on probation for five years, the Los Angeles Times reported.

During his 40-minute appearance in U.S. District Court, Samueli admitted he lied to federal authorities about his role in the backdating of stock options at Broadcom, a major computer chip company based in Irvine, Calif.

"Guilty, your honor," he said.

He is to be sentenced Aug. 18.

The presiding judge said it was likely Samueli would be called to testify at the trial of Broadcom co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III, who faces 24 felony counts of misdating stock options to make them more valuable to employees and of distributing drugs. William J. Ruehle, Broadcom's former chief financial officer, also has been indicted on the options charges. Both have pleaded not guilty.

The trio, along with former corporate general counsel David Dull, also face a civil fraud lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.