*Samueli plea rejected

Here’s to U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney, who ruled that the plea agreement for Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli would "erode the public's perception of our justice system." Under the deal Samueli would have forked over $12 million to resolve the criminal liability in an alleged $2.2 billion securities fraud. "The public expects justice to be administered fairly, without regard to a defendant's race, religion, ethnicity, class, or wealth," said Carney. "No sentence can be based on the amount of money a defendant is willing and able to pay." Here's more from the OC Register:

Columbia University law professor John C. Coffee, an expert on corporate governance called the order "an extraordinary decision." "Judges who react negatively to a plea bargain are a rarity." Coffee said prosecutors will probably have to go back to Samueli and demand that he serve some prison time.

Under the agreement, Samueli admitted to one count of lying to SEC investigators when he denied he was involved in granting stock options to Broadcom executives.

*What the heck? The LAT is reporting that Carney sentenced Samueli to five years of probation. That doesn't match with the Register story, nor with postings by the OC business Journal, Reuters or AP. Stand by for a pretty serious skinback.

And here it is:

FOR THE RECORD:
An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported that Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli was sentenced to five years of probation as part of a plea agreement. A judge rejected that deal.