3 Energy Traders Plead Guilty

Three former traders at power producers Mirant Corp. and Cinergy Corp. pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to manipulate natural gas prices.

Christopher McDonald and Paul Atha, who worked at Mirant, which emerged from bankruptcy protection in January, and Michael Whalen, a former trader at Cinergy, said they sought to benefit their trading positions in 2000 by giving false data to energy industry publications. Cinergy was bought in April by No. 1 U.S. utility owner Duke Energy Corp.

The pleas resulted from a continuing U.S. criminal probe into gas-price manipulation in Western states.

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel in San Francisco accepted the plea agreements and scheduled sentencing for October, said William Goodman, an attorney for McDonald.