Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling May Be Released From Prison By 2017, When He Is 64

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling has reportedly struck a deal that would see him freed prison in 2017 -- more than a decade years before he is scheduled to be released.

Under the agreement, as cited by CNBC, Skilling, 59, would give up all of his remaining rights to appeal, while his 2006 convictions on 19 criminal counts would stand. In addition, he would give up any claims to the $40 million he was ordered to forfeit.

On the upside, the former president of Enron Corp. would end up getting out of prison at age 63 instead of age 74, salvaging any chance that he still has left of a life as a free man. The deal could be finalized in a matter of weeks, CNBC reports.

In 2006, Skilling was convicted of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron's financial collapse and ordered to serve a 24-year, four-month prison sentence at a federal prison in Englewood, Colo.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who presided over Skilling's trial and imposed the original sentence, has been actively involved in the negotiations, holding private conference calls with prosecutors and defense attorneys as recently as Wednesday, CNBC reports.

If the deal is approved, Skilling will have ended up serving roughly 10 years of his original 24-year sentence.