[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday declined to review [order list, PDF] the conviction of former Qwest Communications [corporate website] CEO Joseph Nacchio [JURIST news archive] on charges of insider trading. The Court denied Nacchio's petition for certiorari without comment, ending his appeals process. Nacchio's conviction was overturned [JURIST reports] by a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in March 2008 due to improperly excluded expert testimony, but was reinstated [opinion, PDF] in a February 2009 en banc rehearing requested [JURIST report] by the prosecution.

In August, the Tenth Circuit ruled [JURIST report] that Nacchio was incorrectly sentenced to six years in prison due to flawed methodology and remanded the case for resentencing. In April, Nacchio reported to the minimum security prison camp [JURIST report] at FCI Schuylkill [official website], marking an end to nearly two years of appellate proceedings following hisFederal prosecutors indicted Nacchio in December 2005 on 42 counts of insider trading [JURIST report]. He and other former Qwest executives still face civil fraud charges [JURIST report] brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] on allegations that Qwest improperly reported approximately $3 billion in revenue that eased its 2000 merger with US West.