In a news conference last week, San Francisco U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan sounded unsure whether his new stock options task force would end up indicting any Silicon Valley executives. "We're not saying this will necessarily lead to criminal prosecutions," Ryan told the San Francisco Daily Journal.
But defense lawyers involved in the investigations of options backdating, being conducted by federal prosecutors and securities regulators in New York and San Francisco, say Ryan was playing coy: At least one former Silicon Valley executive will likely be indicted imminently, possibly with more to follow.
Indeed, on Thursday -- the day of Ryan's news conference -- the lawyer for Gregory Reyes, the ex-CEO of Brocade Communications Inc., was in the San Francisco Federal Building trying to convince Ryan's deputies not to indict his client.
"I really can't talk about it," said Richard Marmaro, the L.A.-based Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom partner representing Reyes, when asked about the meeting Friday.
Marmaro and other defense lawyers also said they couldn't discuss a civil suit against Brocade board members -- including top Silicon Valley corporate lawyer Larry Sonsini -- that has recently come to a tentative settlement.