Oregon Public Broadcasting

A Portland man who was central to Enron's storied broadband unit has been sentenced to prison for misleading the public about his division. April Baer reports.

Joseph Hirko was a rising star in high tech before Enron's spectacular collapse.

The broadband unit was working on high-speed internet, and other developing services, including video-on-demand.

Government prosecutors accused Hirko and other executives of overselling the division's capabilities. 

A 2000 release about the acquisition of Warpspeed Communications said it was the missing link for pay-as-you-go broadband service.

Ian McCaleb, with the Department of Justice explains that wasn't true.

Ian McCaleb  "Hirko admitted that he acted with reckless indifference to the true facts, including that the broadband operating system could not dynamically provide bandwidth on demand or provide for the end-to-end quality of service necessary to deliver broadband content."

Hirko's first appearance in court was declared a mistrial. This time, he pleaded guilty to wire fraud, and was sentenced to sixteen months of prison time and about $7 million restitution.