[JURIST] A federal judge on Tuesday denied the request by former Qwest Communications [corporate website] CEO Joseph Nacchio [JURIST news archive] for a new trial on insider trading charges. Nacchio had requested a new trial on the basis that the company's CFO, a key witness in the trial, had changed her testimony, but Judge Marcia Krieger of the US District Court for the District of Colorado [official website] found [Reuters report] that the change in testimony was not substantial enough to alter the conviction. Nacchio was convicted [JURIST report] in 2007 on 19 counts of insider trading for selling $52 million worth of stock in 2001 with knowledge that Qwest could miss its sales targets.

In October, the US Supreme Court [official website] declined to review [JURIST report] Nacchio's conviction without comment, ending his lengthy appeals process, which stretched over two years. In August, the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled [JURIST report] that Nacchio was incorrectly sentenced and remanded the case for resentencing. In April, Nacchio reported to the minimum security prison camp [JURIST report] at FCI Schuylkill [official website]. Nacchio was initially indicted on 42 counts [JURIST report] in 2005. 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.