[JURIST] Former Enron [corporate website; JURIST news archive] CEO Jeffrey Skilling [Houston Chronicle profile] appealed his conviction Friday, claiming errors by prosecutors and the trial judge. In papers filed with the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals [official website], Skilling's attorneys claim the US government's case against Skilling was based on a flawed legal theory, prosecutorial misconduct, and that the jury instructions failed to address prejudice again Skilling in Houston where the trial was held. Skilling began serving [JURIST report] his sentence in December 2006 in a minimum security federal prison in Waseca, Minnesota [BOP website] after his application for bail [JURIST report] pending the appeal of his sentence was rejected.

In October 2006, US District Judge Sim Lake sentenced Skilling to 24 years in prison [JURIST report] and determined that $45 million of Skilling's assets will be seized to be distributed to former Enron employees. Skilling was convicted [JURIST report; verdict backgrounder] in May 2006 on 19 counts of conspiracy, insider trading, and securities fraud for providing investors with false and misleading financial information from 1999 up until Enron filed bankruptcy in late 2001. Reuters has more.