Back on August 18th 2006, Cisco announced an agreement to resolve the consolidated shareholder class-action lawsuit that was filed against it in 2001.
Under the terms of the settlement, liability insurers for Cisco and its directors and officers payed $91.75 million to the plaintiffs.
Recently, the two lead lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Cisco suit, Bill Lerach and Mel Weiss, pled guilty to racketeering as part of a 25-year scheme to pay kickbacks to class-action plaintiffs.
 "I pled guilty in this case because I was guilty. I knew what I was doing was wrong," said 61-year-old Bill Lerach who terrorized America’s corporate boardrooms for over 25 years.
"It was, as they say, felony stupid." He also apologized to his family, his former law firm and "to the legal system I’ve abused." Lerach who was sentenced to two years in prison and fined $8 million, will also be on supervised release for two years and must complete 1,000 hours of community service. |
 72-year-old Melvyn Weiss was sentenced to a 33-month prison term and will pay $10 million to the government.
Weiss, who had defiantly protested his innocence, issued a statement of apology for the "wrongdoing," saying "I deeply regret my conduct." Weiss pled guilty to racketeering as part of a 25-year scheme to pay kickbacks to class-action plaintiffs. |
Hopefully, lawyers involved in patent trolling and pirating will take notice of the racketeering convictions of these two scoundrels!
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Brad Reese is research manager at BradReese.Com, advancing the careers of 1 million certified individuals in the growing Cisco Career Certification Program.
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