Authorities are now seeking to drop the charges. Federal prosecutors sought to withdrew the indictment after McClendon died Wednesday in a single-car crash.
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Police are still investigating the wreck, but evidence suggests the McClendon was driving at a “high rate of speed”, Oklahoma City Police Capt. Paco Balderrama told reporters at a news conference Wednesday.
“You can pick up the paper every day and read something negative about me or about the company”, McClendon said during the media storm of coverage at the time.
Dropping the federal indictment against the late McClendon is obviously an exercise in common sense.
Mr McClendon’s vehicle veered off the road and into an overpass in Oklahoma City. The DoJ alleges that Mr McClendon conspired with two other unnamed energy companies in an antitrust scheme which ran from 2007 until 2012, before McClendon’s exit from Chesapeake in 2013.
McClendon, known as the “Shale Baron” during the boom shale drilling years, bought up gas fields across the United States as head of Chesapeake Energy.
In the email obtained by News9, McClendon took aim at the Department of Justice, saying, “Our business will continue to be successful despite these wrongful accusations.” he also said he would continue to work during the investigation saying “I will continue to focus on new oil and gas businesses”.
McClendon was a founder and CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp. before stepping down in 2013 and founding American Energy Partners.
McClendon had been indicted just hours earlier by a federal grand jury on charges of gas-lease bid rigging.
“Anyone who knows me, my business record and the industry in which I have worked for 35 years, knows that I could not be guilty of violating any antitrust laws”, he said in a statement following his indictment.
Energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens described McClendon as “charismatic and a true American entrepreneur”.
McClendon is survived by his wife and three children.
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“Aubrey’s tremendous leadership, vision, and passion for the energy industry had an impact on the community, the country, and the world”, AEP said in a statement. “He was a major player in leading the stunning energy renaissance in America”.
