Jamie Olis, a former midlevel Dynegy Inc. executive who had originally received a 24-year prison term for his role in a fraudulent accounting scheme was resentenced Friday to six years in prison. His original sentence was thrown out last October by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which deemed it unreasonable. Here’s the AP story.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who issued Mr. Olis’s first sentence, also handed down his new prison term. Lake said Friday he had calculated the sentencing range from about 12 1/2 years to 15 1/2, but gave Mr. Olis a lighter term.
“A lengthy sentence is not needed to deter Mr. Olis from future criminal conduct,” Judge Lake said.
Olis has served more than two years of his 24-year sentence for his role in a 2001 deal that the government said had disguised debt as cash flow. The 24-year sentence was issued after Olis’s conviction by a jury.
The federal sentencing guidelines were rendered voluntary by a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in late 2004, after Olis’s sentencing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston asked that Olis’s sentence stand in the wake of the Fifth Circuit ruling. Olis’s lawyer, however, argued that Olis’s case called for a sentence far below the prosecution’s suggested guideline range.