Execs charged in stock fraud case plead not guilty

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005 | 11:07 a.m.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Two former executives at America Online and four executives at now-defunct Las Vegas software firm PurchasePro.com Inc. pleaded not guilty Tuesday to stock fraud and other charges in federal court.

Normally a trial date would have been set in March to ensure defendants' right to a speedy trial. But U.S. District Judge Walter Kelley approved a request from prosecutors to push the trial date back to August, citing the case's complexity.

The four PurchasePro executives charged include the company's founder, Charles "Junior" Johnson, 43, of Las Vegas; Christopher Benyo, 43, of Greer, S.C., a former senior vice president of marketing; Joseph Michael Kennedy, 51, of Morristown, N.J., a former chief technology officer, and Scott Wiegand, 36, a former general counsel.

Also charged were Kent Wakeford, 36, of New York, former executive director at AOL's business affairs unit and John Tuli, 37, of Weston, Mass., a former vice president in AOL's NetBusiness unit.