David Duncan was the lead Andersen partner in charge of auditing Enron.

He was fired in January, following suspicions that he ordered the destruction of thousands of Enron papers and e-mails even though a judicial investigation was already under way.

He pleaded guilty to shredding documents in return for cooperating with federal prosecutors.

Whether Mr Duncan acted on orders from above when shredding documents was the key question in the Andersen trial.

Mr Duncan says he was acting on an e-mail from Nancy Temple, a lawyer at Andersen, but Ms Temple denied giving such advice.

In June 2002, after five weeks of hearing evidence and ten days of deliberation, the jury found Andersen guilty of obstructing the course of justice.

Mr Duncan is expected to receive a lenient sentence in return for his cooperation with the prosecutors.