[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled Wednesday that former Qwest CEO Ralph Nacchio [JURIST news archive] can remain free on bail pending his appeal of his insider trading conviction [JURIST report]. Nacchio was convicted in April on 19 counts of insider training for illegally selling 1.33 million shares valued at $52 million dollars in conjunction with the Denver-based telephone service provider's accounting scandal. He was sentenced [JURIST report] last month to six years in prison and was ordered to pay a $19 million fine in addition to forfeiting the $52 million.

Federal prosecutors indicted Nacchio in December 2005 on 42 counts of insider trading [JURIST report]. He and other former Qwest executives are still facing a class action lawsuit and other civil charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission [JURIST reports]. Another former Qwest employee, ex-vice president Marc Weisberg, pleaded guilty to wire fraud [JURIST report] in December 2005 and helped prosecutors build their case against Nacchio. Reuters has more.