Former Qwest Exec Pleads Guilty

Former Qwest Communications International Inc. executive Thomas Hall pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of falsifying documents, ending the first criminal case stemming from a federal investigation of the company.

In exchange, prosecutors dropped three counts of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud. Hall, who also agreed to cooperate with investigators who are still looking into Qwest, faces up to a year in prison and a fine of as much as $100,000.

Hall was accused of participating in a scheme to improperly inflate Qwest revenue by $34 million when he was a senior vice president in the company’s global business unit.