John Rigas, founder of Adelphia Communications, received a 15-year sentence yesterday after a five-month trial, for using company money for his own personal use, and lying to investors about finances.
He and his son Timothy, who was the former chief financial officer of Adelphia, were convicted in 2004 of conspiracy and securities fraud and were responsible for the bankruptcy of the company.
With John Rigas being so old, the judge said his sentence could potentially be cut short as long as he does two years, and doctors say he has less than three months to live.
There were two other defendants involved in the case as well. One was Rigas’s other son, Michael. The jury deadlocked on his trial, and his new one will begin in October. The fourth defendant was Michael Mulcahey. He was acquitted. Erin McClam of AP wrote:
Adelphia prosecutors had accused the Rigases of using complicated cash-management systems to spread money around to various family-owned entities and as a cover for stealing about $100 million for themselves.
They were accused of spending the money on a lengthy list of personal luxuries. Prosecutors said John Rigas had ordered two Christmas trees flown to New York for his daughter at a cost of $6,000, ordered up 17 company cars and had the company buy 3,600 acres of timberland at a cost of $26 million to preserve the view outside his Pennsylvania home.
The Rigas family has already agreed to pay $1.5 billion of its assets to settle fraud charges. This makes up 95% of the family’s total assets, and includes real estate, bonds, and cable-television systems. The company will still have about $45 million is assets.
Back in 2002, Adelphia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company has since agreed to be acquired by Time Warner and Comcast for $18 billion.
Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
