Drunk in Dallas - hefty fine for ex-Enron chief

NEW YORK - Jeffrey Skilling, the former Enron chief executive facing prison for fraud and insider trading, has been fined US$385 ($582) after being found drunk in a ritzy uptown area of Dallas.

The 52-year-old could be sentenced to more than 20 years in prison after being convicted earlier this year on 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy and insider trading.

And in a new addition to his legal miseries, he was arrested in the small hours of a Saturday morning last month, briefly held in a town jail, and ticketed for public intoxication.

He had been found wandering a swanky area of shops and restaurants north of downtown Dallas, where he has a townhouse. Police said he had slurred speech and showed other signs of intoxication, but did not resist arrest.

A judge ruled he had not violated the terms of his US$5 million bail, but he has agreed to increase the frequency of his visits to alcohol treatment and mental health counsellors.

The incident is not the first since Skilling became one of America's most recognisable symbols of executive malfeasance. In April 2004, he was involved in a scuffle at a cigar bar in New York. He wasn't arrested, but he and his wife, Rebecca, who was hurt in the incident, were taken to a hospital where blood tests showed he was intoxicated.

- INDEPENDENT