It looks as if Lea Fastow, wife of former Enron Corp. chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, may not spend more than a year in jail after all.
The former Enron assistant treasurer is scheduled to plead guilty to a misdemeanor tax count at a new arraignment on Thursday, thus avoiding a June trial, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The maximum sentence for the misdemeanor is 12 months in prison, added the paper. However, it is widely believed the government will ask U.S. District Judge David Hittner to sentence Lea Fastow to a shorter term.
If she had been found guilty at trial of the six felony counts with which she was initially charged, Fastow would have faced up to 37 years in prison.
In early April, Judge Hittner rejected a plea bargain that called for Fastow to serve just five months in prison; Hittner still must approve the new deal.