HOUSTON, July 5: Enron Corp. founder and former Chief Executive Ken Lay, who was convicted in May for his role in the Houston-based company’s downfall, died after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday at his vacation home in Colorado.

“Ken Lay passed away early this morning in Aspen,” Lay family spokeswoman Kelly Kimberly said statement.

Mr Lay, 64, was awaiting sentencing later this year and was expected to face a decade in prison for his convictions in the Enron collapse.

Ken Lay and former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling were convicted of fraud and conspiracy for hiding the financial ruin at Enron, which tumbled into bankruptcy in Dec 2001.

Mr Lay, once a confidant of former president George Bush and dubbed ‘Kenny boy’ by his son, President George Bush, often appeared fatigued during the four-month trial, but there was no indication that he had suffered any adverse health effects.

Enron started as a quiet pipeline company and under Mr Lay’s guidance grew into an international energy powerhouse, but imploded in a wave of accounting scandals.

Pitkin County sheriff’s deputies and an ambulance were dispatched to the Lay vacation home early on Wednesday morning and transported him to Aspen Valley Hospital. He was pronounced dead there shortly after 3am local time.

“A coroner’s autopsy is pending. There will be no further information or press release from this office, until autopsy results are available later this week,” the county said in a statement.—Reuters