Charges Narrowed Against Qwest Figure

A federal grand jury re-indicted former Qwest Communications executive Tom Hall over his role in a 2001 accounting scandal but narrowed the scope of charges against him, court documents showed.

The original trial of four former Qwest Communications International Inc. executives, including former senior vice president Hall, 52, had been a showcase by the government of its efforts to prosecute corporate misconduct. But the jury failed to hand down a single conviction in April and was deadlocked on all charges against Hall.

The grand jury issued the new indictment against Hall on four counts, compared with the previous indictment on 12 counts. The thrust of the case remains allegations that Hall helped illegally boost reported revenue to help cover up weak results at Qwest.