Third former Williams trader admits manipulating natural gas prices

June 11, 2006

Daryl Brown, former trader of Oklahoma-based Williams Power Company, pleads guilty in federal court of conspiracy to manipulate natural gas prices between 1998 and 2002, during the California energy crisis. Brown is the third Williams trader to plead guilty of similar charges since 2004. Brown had agreed to cooperate in an ongoing probe.

U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said, "Mr. Brown admitted that approximately 75 percent of the trades he reported to industry newsletters were deliberately fabricated. These false data skewed published prices so the company could illegally profit."

Brown will be sentenced on September 22.