A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that Qwest Communications International Inc ex-Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio was incorrectly sentenced to six years in prison for insider trading.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the federal district court in Denver to redetermine what the correct sentence should be and strongly indicated the sentence should be less than six years.

The Denver-based appeals court also ruled that U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham, who presided at trial, had erred in ordering the former executive to forfeit $52 million, the gross proceeds from selling his Qwest stock.

The appellate judges ordered a new trial judge to redetermine the correct amount of proceeds from his insider trading that Nacchio will have to forfeit to the government.

Nacchio is serving his sentence at a federal prison camp in Pennsylvania and is awaiting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether it will accept his appeal claiming that he did not receive a fair trial.

At a hearing Friday, prosecutors told D.C. Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Alprin that they have provided more than 5,000 pages of evidence to attorneys for Ingmar Guandique (gwan-DEE'-kay.)

Chandra Levy had just completed a U.S. Bureau of Prisons internship when she disappeared in 2001 after leaving her apartment in jogging clothes. Her remains were found a year later in a Washington park.

Defense attorneys say they need to interview at least 10 other possible suspects. They asked to push back the January trial date, but Alprin refused.

Guandique's lawyers have said the case against him is flawed. He was charged in the killing earlier this year.

The company, which blamed the faltering economy for a falloff in its finances, has $5.7 billion in debt, Chief Accounting Officer Tom Friel told The Associated Press.

A recession-linked decline in tourism is plaguing the casino industry after years of rising profits.

Most of Station's assets are maintained in casino-operating subsidies and affiliates and were not included in Tuesday's filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Reno, Nev. The assets included in the filing are "nominal," Friel said. Executives said operations at the 33-year-old company will continue as usual.

Station has between 100 and 1,000 creditors, Friel said.

"This is a global economic issue that has forced us to have to go back and reset our debt," Chief Operating Office Kevin Kelley said during an interview.

"The restructuring of our debt will provide us with the financial flexibility necessary to meet the challenges of the current economic environment," Chairman and CEO Frank J. Fertitta III said in a statement. "Equally important, it will provide the resources necessary for us to continue to invest in our properties, take advantage of opportunities as they arise and ultimately enable us to emerge as a stronger company."

Attorneys in U.S. District Court in Boston gave opening statements Tuesday in the recording industry's lawsuit against 25-year-old Joel Tenenbaum of Providence, R.I.

Tenenbaum, represented by Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson, is accused of downloading and distributing thousands of songs, though the case focuses on 30.

Recording industry lawyer Tim Reynolds says song swappers such as Tenenbaum seriously damage music labels.

Tenenbaum is only the second music-downloading defendant to go to trial. Last month, a federal jury ruled a Minnesota woman must pay $1.92 million for copyright infringement.

A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a federal judge's decision to block the hourly employees from filing a class action lawsuit.

The judge had ruled that the court inquiries into each employee's individual situation would "swamp" any of the group's common issues.

The employees contend that FedEx has engaged in a "pervasive and long-standing policy" of failing to pay hourly employees for all time worked.

FedEx hourly employees are required to manually enter their scheduled start, end and break times into a hand-held tracker. But employees also use time cards as a backup tracking method.

The group claims they frequently worked during unpaid breaks. They also say they weren't paid for the gap periods between punching in or out on a time clock and when they actually started or finished work.

For example, if an employee punched in at 7:45 a.m. but entered a start time of 8 a.m. into the tracker, there would be a 15-minute gap for which the employee would not be paid.

A spokesman for FedEx wasn't immediately able to comment on the ruling Monday.

Attorney David Houston said Francis, his client, was targeted by the FBI after Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley told federal agents that his internal probe turned up allegations of misconduct at the end of 2007.

Francis was awaiting trial for nearly a year on U.S. tax evasion charges in Reno in 2007.

Prosecutors accuse Francis associate Aaron Weinstein, a video and marketing executive, of bribing the law enforcement officials, including former deputy Michon Mills, with money and gifts that included a Cartier watch and Oakland Raiders tickets in exchange for preferential treatment for Francis.

Prosecutors said California State University, Chico student Kelsey Michael Mudd was more than three times over the legal alcohol limit on the day of the June 27 accident. They have yet to spell out their case in court, but the murder charge suggests they believe Mudd caused the accident.

The South China Morning Post newspaper reported earlier that Mudd was arguing with his driver before the crash.

Mudd's lawyer, Ian Polson, argued in court that the crash "always was and is a traffic accident," arguing there was no evidence that Mudd, 22, was behind the wheel during the accident that killed the driver.

"It's been blown all out of proportion," Polson told Acting Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai.

Polson told reporters after Monday's brief hearing that the alcohol test results are irrelevant because there is no evidence that Mudd was driving.

Mudd, who has not entered a plea, appeared in court with his hair shortly cropped and wearing a dark blue suit jacket over a checkered dress shirt and khaki pants. He did not show any emotion, but briefly glanced to the back of the courtroom, where his parents and friends were seated.

He was remanded into custody after Chainrai adjourned his case to Aug. 28 to allow more time for prosecutors to investigate. Polson said he plans to file a bail application in the coming weeks.