Assistant U.S. Attorney Cliff Stricklin, who headed the successful prosecution of former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio, will leave the Justice Department for a job with Denver’s largest law firm.
Stricklin, 43, plans to join Holland & Hart, where he will handle commercial and securities litigation and white-collar corporate defense.
Stricklin was one of the U.S. Justice Department lawyers on the Enron financial scandal before he was chosen to ramrod Nacchio’s insider-trading case.
“I am just ready for some new challenges. It has been great to work on some of the largest cases in our nation’s history and have a chance to shape our policy toward corporate fraud,” Stricklin said.
Nacchio, who ran Qwest from 1997 until he was ousted in 2002, was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to forfeit $52 million in ill-gotten gains and pay $19 million in fines. He is free on $2 million bond, pending appeal.
His appeal claims that U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham made serious errors that affected the outcome of the trial.
If the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals overturns his conviction, the Justice Department could prosecute Nacchio a second time.
“Obviously, if (Stricklin) was still there it would be a big advantage for the Department of Justice because he knows the case so well. On the other hand, there are lots of qualified attorneys in Justice,” said Tony Leffert, a former federal prosecutor now at Robinson, Waters & O’Dorisio.
Stricklin said Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Hearty and Kevin Traskos, who worked with him on the case, could easily mount another prosecution.
“I think the Nacchio case will be affirmed,” he said.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
