Qwest Communications International Inc (Q)

[NovoMira]

UPDATE 1-Nacchio requests bail pending Supreme Court review

Fri Mar 6, 2009 2:01pm EST
*Nacchio requests continued bail release

*Will request U.S. Supreme Court review within three weeks

(Adds details from court filing, background)

DENVER/LOS ANGELES, March 6 (Reuters) - Former Qwest Communications International Inc (Q.N:) Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio on Friday asked a U.S. appeals court to let him stay free on bail while he appeals his insider-trading conviction.

In a court filing to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Nacchio's attorneys said they planned to file a petition seeking U.S. Supreme Court review within the next three weeks.

Nacchio, 59, is "not a flight risk or a danger and his petition is not for the purposes of delay," the filing stated.

A Denver trial court ordered Nacchio to report to a minimum security prison in Pennsylvania by March 23 to begin serving his six-year term.

Late on Thursday, Nacchio's legal team filed a motion for a new criminal trial with that court, citing newly discovered evidence that surfaced in depositions for a pending government securities case against him and other former Qwest executives.

Nacchio was convicted on 19 counts of insider trading, and recently had that result upheld by the 10th Circuit. (Reporting by Gina Keating, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)