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HOUSTON (AP) - A former trader for Reliant Energy was sentenced to almost five years in prison for submitting false information about natural gas trades to an industry publication, in what is believed to be the first such case in the nation.
Jerry Futch, 43, pleaded guilty last year to a single count of reporting false gas trades in 2000 and 2001. Information on commodity trades is used to create price indexes.
Futch disputed the government's estimate of the damage caused by his actions, a factor in the length of his sentence. The government had estimated the damage at $272 million, but Futch's attorneys said it was a few hundred thousand dollars or less.
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