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Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House

Lea Fastow, wife of Enron former CFO Andrew Fastow, left the downtown federal detention center this morning, where she has been serving her year sentence on an income tax violation connected to the case, and arrived at a half-way house where she will be serving the last five weeks of her sentence.

Hand-in-hand with her soon-to-be-imprisoned husband, Lea Fastow walked out of a downtown Houston prison before dawn today.....The 43-year-old wife of former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow looked healthy in a white polo shirt and jeans, with a pink sweater folded over her arm, as she emerged from the Federal Dentention Center moments before 4 a.m., just as sprinklers started up. She stopped briefly on the sidewalk at 1200 Texas Avenue to speak to a reporter and photographers before being whisked away in a private car to the halfway house where she'll stay until July 10.

"It's been a tough year, but it's supposed to be a tough year,'' said Fastow, a stay-at-home mom before going to prison. "I am going home to my family soon. That's exactly what I'm looking forward to.''

The Bureau of Prisons just will not cut this woman any slack. Instead of a prison camp, like the one Martha Stewart went to, Mrs. Fastow was made to serve her time in a downtown Houston federal lockup. Instead of home detention for the final weeks, she has to go to a halfway house. While most prisoners can leave the halfway house for hours during the day,

Lea Fastow is likely to be confined to the facility for the remainder of her sentence, possibly allowed to visit an outside doctor.

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    Re: Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:45 PM EST
    I am going home to my family (free and clear with millions & millions of stolen money still in the bank). what a crock...

    Re: Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:45 PM EST
    Beat me to it wool. My heart bleeds.....

    Re: Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:45 PM EST
    I am SO in the wrong business...and wrong gender...and ethnicity.

    Re: Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:45 PM EST
    This woman was a stay at home mom. She had nothing to do with the Enron scandal. They went after her to get her HUSBAND and the prosecution as much as admitted it. Anyone here claim the Christmas gifts they got last year on their income tax? Uh oh. The Bureau of Prisons now won't even let her go to home confinement for the last five weeks. Do they think she is dangerous? It says there are varying degrees of confinement there but she will not be allowed to leave at all unless she is seeing a doctor. She was convicted of a misdemeanor, as much as some would like to stone her for being the WIFE of an Enron figure, a misdemeanor is all the prosecution ended up with and they were satisfied with that.

    Re: Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House (none / 0) (#5)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:46 PM EST
    Take their money. Screw prison. Take every dime.

    Re: Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House (none / 0) (#6)
    by Richard Aubrey on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:49 PM EST
    Now, we think that letting people who commit heinous murders ought to be paroled. But the wife of a white-collar criminal...? You guys are too much.

    Re: Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House (none / 0) (#7)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:49 PM EST
    It does seem to me that prosecutors used her to pressure her husband, which appears to be a violation of not compelling spouses to testify. But as far as 'murderers' go, fastow ruined many more lives than any serial killer the us has ever seen. I would love to see a sentencing hearing go on for weeks just to accomodate all the victims horror stories in this case.

    Re: Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House (none / 0) (#8)
    by Richard Aubrey on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:50 PM EST
    Sailor. Please define "ruined". Then explain why it is equivalent to, or as you seem to think, worse than, death.