A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the dammed soul of Enron founder, Kenneth Lay, was to be given a clean record. It was ruled that his death vacated his conviction on 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy, and lying to banks in two separate cases. This ruling now makes it more difficult for the government to seek $43.5 million from Lay’s estate.

Lay’s attorneys argued that legal precedent called for his convictions to be erased and his indictment dismissed. They cited a 2004 ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found that a defendant’s death pending appeal invalidates his entire case because he hadn’t had a full opportunity to challenge the conviction and the government shouldn’t be able to punish a dead defendant or his estate.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake agreed, saying prosecutors had not “raised any legal basis for denying the rule’s application in this case.”

“On behalf of his estate, I’m really quite pleased with the ruling and glad this brings to a close the criminal proceeding against Mr. Lay,” said Samuel Buffone, the attorney for Lay’s estate. The government had planned to seek $43.5 million for what it said was Lay’s ill-gotten gains from Enron’s fraud. The government could still pursue those gains in civil court, but they would have to compete with other litigants.

Attorney Keli Luther said the judge’s ruling was “unfair for victims that have been left penniless by Mr. Lay’s actions.” Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law in Virginia said, “It seems like there isn’t much of an argument that could have been made. The judge seemed to be pretty much bound by the earlier precedent.”

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