Joseph Hirko, former co-chief executive officer of Enron Broadband Services (EBS), Enron’s failed telecommunications business, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division and Assistant Director Kenneth W. Kaiser of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division announced.

Hirko, 52, of Portland, Ore., pleaded guilty to one count of a superseding indictment charging him with wire fraud before Judge Vanessa Gilmore at U.S. District Court in Houston. According to the terms of the plea agreement, Hirko faces a maximum sentence of 16 months in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 3, 2009. As part of his plea agreement, Hirko agreed to cooperate fully with the government’s ongoing criminal investigation of individuals formerly employed at EBS. In addition, Hirko agreed to forfeit approximately $8.7 million in restitution to the Enron victims through the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enron Fair Fund. 

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