Pinstripes to prison stripes for Fuld?

Richard Fuld, the infamous former CEO of now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers, could be headed to prison, according to Economist.com. If the aftermath of corporate failures like Enron and WorldCom are any indicator, the general public and the U.S. government will want the Wall Street titans partially responsible for the financial meltdown sent straight to the slammer.

Public opinion is already mounting around Fuld's perceived guilt. CNN's Anderson Cooper has even launched a segment entitled "Ten Most Wanted Culprits of the Collapse." Fuld came in at an impressive, and damning, No. 2 spot--revealing just how difficult the battle to clear his name will be. Although Fuld denied that he purposely misled the public about Lehman's problems in recent Congressional hearings, many have their doubts.

"Either he should have known that the company was in difficult circumstances or if he did know and didn't tell, it creates another problem. On the one hand he is either a liar or else on the other hand, he is stupid," said Sean Egan of Egan-Jones Ratings, who evaluates companies like Lehman for investors, on Cooper's blog.

Maybe Fuld is just the scapegoat for the broader epidemic of Wall Street greed. In fact, Economist.com reports that Republican congressman, John Mica, even said this much during the hearings, saying "If you haven't discovered your role, you're the villain today. You've got to act like a villain."

And so the question is: If Fuld is the villain in the eyes of the average American, the media and Congress, what are his chances of winning the hearts and minds of a jury if--or more likely when--the time comes? 

For more information:
- here's the Econonmist.com story
- check out this video on the "10 Most Wanted Culprits of the Collapse"

Related Articles:
The death of Lehman Brothers
For Fuld, the beating continues; employee sucker punches him in gym