Ex-Qwest v.p. pleads guilty to wire fraud

DENVER — Former Qwest Communications executive Marc Weisberg pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors trying to convict former Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio of illegally dumping more than $100 million in stock.

Weisberg, a former senior vice president who oversaw investments, mergers and acquisitions for Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc., pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud. He had faced eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.

The plea came a week after Nacchio was indicted on 42 counts of insider trading and on the same day that Enron's former top accountant, Richard Causey, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating the Houston company.

"In today's atmosphere, there is simply too great a risk that a jury may be persuaded to paint Mr. Weisberg with the broad brush of alleged impropriety at Qwest," defense attorneys Stephen Peters and Gary Lozow said in a statement.

Prosecutors declined comment. They have said their investigation of Qwest is substantially complete with Nacchio's indictment.

Weisberg, who is free on $1 million unsecured bond, faces a March 3 sentencing hearing.

Prosecutors have said Weisberg's case was not directly connected to the accounting scandal that forced Qwest to restate billions in revenue. Instead, they accused Weisberg of improperly earning $2.9 million for himself, family members and friends from 1999 to 2001 by demanding that vendors offer them shares in other companies in return for doing business with Qwest, the telephone provider for 14 mostly Western states, including Utah.

In a plea agreement filed with a federal judge, Weisberg admitted to buying stock in a California company in March 2000 and failing to report the deal to Qwest. He sold the stock in 2001 at a loss of about $529,000, the document said.

Prosecutors said they will seek 60 days of in-home detention, two years of probation and a $250,000 fine against Weisberg, 48. He had faced decades in prison, huge fines and forfeiture of $2.9 million if convicted of the original charges.

Weisberg joins former Qwest Chief Financial Officer Robin Szeliga as a potential witness in future cases. She pleaded guilty in July to one count of insider trading and agreed to cooperate with investigators. In addition, former Qwest President Afshin Mohebbi has been granted immunity and is expected to testify.