Snapshots of the past

2001

* June 20: Morgan Stanley downgrades Qwest stock after analyst questions accounting practices. Qwest Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Nacchio disputes claim.

2002

* April 4: Qwest says SEC has begun formal inquiry into its accounting practices.

* June 16: Nacchio resigns as chairman and CEO.

2003

* Feb. 11: Qwest lowers 2000 and 2001 revenue by $2.2 billion and later reports a $35.9 billion loss for 2002.

* Aug. 28: Chief Financial Officer Robin Szeliga leaves company.

2005

* March 15: SEC charges Nacchio, Szeliga, former CFO Robert Wood ruff and four other former executives with orchestrating a financial fraud between 1999 and 2002.

* Dec. 20: Federal grand jury indicts Nacchio on 42 counts of insider trading. He pleads not guilty.

2006

* March 24: U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham declines Nacchio's request to dismiss the indictment.

* Aug. 25: Nottingham rejects Nacchio's request to move trial outside of Denver.

2007

* Jan. 31: California's teacher pension fund reaches a nearly $47 million settlement with Qwest Communications over a lawsuit claiming the company defrauded the fund of $150 million. Nacchio is ordered to pay $1.5 million.

* March 19: Jury selection begins in Nacchio's insider trading trial.

* March 20: Prosecutors paint Nacchio as a CEO who illegally sold stock. Nacchio's defense team says he was forced to sell shares but believed in his company's future.

* March 27: Szeliga testifies against her former boss, saying she had tried to persuade him to reduce a 2001 public revenue forecast because of concerns it was unattainable.

* April 9: Defense rests without Nacchio testifying.

* April 19: Jurors convict Nacchio on 19 of 42 counts after six days of deliberation. He remains free on $2 million bond.

* June 4: Nacchio's attorneys ask for a new trial at new venue, saying jurors were exposed to "unremitting vituperative public attacks" on their client.

* July 27: Nottingham sentences Nacchio to six years in prison and orders him to forfeit $52 million.

* Aug. 22: A federal appeals court allows Nacchio to remain free on bond pending appeal.

* Dec. 18: Nacchio's attorneys argue to get conviction overturned.

2008

* March 17: Three-judge appeals panel orders new trial, saying trial judge incorrectly excluded expert testimony.

* July 30: Federal appeals court agrees to review decision that overturned conviction.

2009

* Feb. 25: The full 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstates Nacchio's conviction, says he can be ordered to begin serving prison sentence.

Rocky Mountain News

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