Charter execs sentenced for fraud charges

By Cheryl Wittenauer
Associated Press Writer
APR. 22, 2005

Four former executives of Charter Communications Inc. -- each expressing remorse and regret -- were sentenced Friday for their roles in schemes that artificially inflated revenues and subscriber numbers at the nation's third-largest cable television provider.

Calling their crimes "serious" and their ethical slippage "troubling," U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson imposed sentences ranging from two years probation to 14 months in prison for fraud charges dating to a July 2003 indictment.

The sentencing, in a federal courtroom packed with the men's families, friends and business associates, closed the final chapter of an accounting scandal that has nagged the suburban St. Louis-based company...

... All four men had pleaded guilty to felonies related to one of two schemes. Charter, which was not accused of wrongdoing, is controlled by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen and has more than 6 million subscribers in 37 states.