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Adelphia founder, son re-sentenced

By Reuters
New York, 22 May 2008

A US federal judge will re-evaluate the prison sentences of Adelphia founder John Rigas and his son Timothy after an appeals court overturned one part of their convictions last year.

The pair, convicted by a jury in 2004 of concealing loans and stealing millions from the cable operator, is serving prison terms of 15 and 20 years, respectively.

US district judge Leonard Sand in Manhattan will re-sentence the pair, according to court documents.

The Rigases, who began serving their prison term last year, have voluntarily waived their right to appear in court for the re-sentencing, according to court documents.

After the Enron and WorldCom cases, Adelphia was one of the biggest corporate fraud prosecutions in recent years. The father and son, the company's former chief financial officer, were accused of looting the company to pay for personal land deals and vacation homes.

In May 2007, the US appeals court in New York upheld the pair's convictions on 22 of 23 counts of conspiracy and securities and bank fraud. It reversed their conviction on one count of bank fraud, citing insufficient evidence.

The Rigases lost their final appeal in March this year, when the US Supreme Court declined to review the earlier ruling by the appeals court.

Adelphia was the fifth-largest US cable firm before its 2002 collapse. Its cable system assets have been sold to Comcast and Time Warner.

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