On May 15, 2008, Samueli resigned as chairman of the board and took a leave of absence as Chief Technology Officer after being named in a civil complaint by the SEC. On June 23, 2008, Samueli pleaded guilty for lying to SEC for $2.2 billion of backdating. Under the plea bargain, Samueli agreed to a sentence of five years probation, a $250,000 criminal fine, and a $12 million payment to the US Treasury. Prosecutors focused on the fact that Samueli denied under oath any role in making options grants to high-ranking executives. As part of his plea agreement, Samueli admitted the statement was false, and admitting to being part of the options-granting process. However, an internal Broadcom probe laid the majority of blame on CEO Henry Nicholas and CFO William Ruehle. On September 8, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney rejected the plea deal that called for Samueli to receive probation, writing: "The court cannot accept a plea agreement that gives the impression that justice is for sale". 16 months later, on December 10, 2009, Judge Carney, after hearing the testimony of all the witnesses at the trial of CFO William Ruehle, dismissed the case against Samueli (as well as Ruehle and Nicholas), citing Samueli's testimony as well as prosecutorial misconduct. In his ruling Judge Carney stated "The uncontroverted evidence at trial established that Dr. Samueli was a brilliant engineer and a man of incredible integrity. There was no evidence at trial to suggest that Dr. Samueli did anything wrong, let alone criminal. Yet, the government embarked on a campaign of intimidation and other misconduct to embarrass him and bring him down." He further added in his ruling "Needless to say, the government’s treatment of Dr. Samueli was shameful and contrary to American values of decency and justice." The judge ordered Dr. Samueli's plea agreement to be "expunged" from his record and stated "Dr. Samueli now has a clean slate." Awards and honors 2003, National Academy of Engineering 2004, American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2006, Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 2018, U.S. News STEM Leadership Hall of Fame 2018, National Academy of Inventors 2020, Ellis Island Medal of Honor 2021, IEEE Founders Medal References External links Henry Samueli biography at the UCLA Department of Electrical Engineering Henry Samueli biography at the Samueli Foundation The Samueli Foundation 1954 births American billionaires American telecommunications industry businesspeople