Broadcom Corp. cofounder Henry Samueli is appealing a judge’s rejection of a plea deal that would spare him prison time for his role in backdated stock options at the Irvine chipmaker.
Samueli is sticking to his guilty plea in a deal worked out with federal prosecutors his lawyer said Tuesday, according to an Associated Press story.
In June, Samueli pleaded guilty to one felony count of lying to Securities and Exchange Commission investigators about options backdating at Broadcom.
As part of the plea, federal prosecutors recommended that he pay $12 million to the federal government, a $250,000 fine and get three to five years of probation.
In September, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney rejected the plea bargain as too lenient and premature with former Broadcom executives Henry Nicholas and Bill Ruehle yet to face trial on more serious backdating charges.
Nicholas and Ruehle have pleaded not guilty and could face long prison sentences if convicted.
On Tuesday, Carney warned Samueli that if he loses his appeal, he could face a harsher sentence than the one he had agreed to with prosecutors, according to the Associated Press.
Broadcom’s $2.2 billion restatement last year to reflect misdated stock options was the largest of any company involved in backdating.
