Also yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges against Lay, seeking the return of $90 million in "unlawful proceeds" from his stock sales, and a permanent ban barring Lay from acting as an officer or director of a public company.

At a brief press conference outside the courthouse, Michael Ramsey, Lay's criminal defense attorney, said the former Enron chief did not participate in a conspiracy or other illegal acts with other former Enron executives.

"He did not have any idea of the depth of the problems until Enron went into bankruptcy," Ramsey said. He said Lay was misled and deceived by top Enron executives, including former CFO Andrew Fastow, who has pleaded guilty to felony charges and is likely to testify against Lay and former CEO Jeff Skilling.

"Andy obviously is a liar and a thief," Ramsey said.

Ramsey said the defense team will seek a speedy trial. He also hinted that he might seek a change in venue from Houston, Enron's hometown where sentiment against Lay runs strong. Ramsey added that Lay "has lost a fortune," and will feel deeply — "until the day he dies" — for former Enron workers who lost savings when company stock plunged.

The accounting fraud at Enron, exposed in late 2001, sparked outrage in Congress and among the general public. Coming after a meltdown in dot-com stocks and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the revelation that the nation's seventh-largest company was not as healthy as it appeared shattered investor confidence in the stock market and led to tougher laws punishing fraud in the executive suite.