[Somewhere in the skies between Orange County and Las Vegas, federal prosecutors say, Broadcom Corp. co-founder and hard-partying billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III gave new meaning to the term "highflying."
Winging their way to Sin City in 2001, Nicholas and his entourage generated so much marijuana smoke that it billowed into the cockpit, "requiring the pilot flying the plane to put on an oxygen mask," according to a federal grand jury indictment made public Thursday.
The indictment, issued under seal a day earlier, accused Nicholas of doling out drugs and prostitutes as part of a freewheeling lifestyle.
A second indictment accused Nicholas of manipulating stock options at Broadcom, the Irvine-based maker of computer chips used in such products as mobile phones, Apple Inc.'s iPod and Nintendo Co.'s Wii consoles.
In a 21-count indictment, Nicholas and William J. Ruehle, 66, Broadcom's former chief financial officer, were accused of backdating millions of stock options for five years to improperly reward employees.
The document also lists three properties described in previous Los Angeles Times stories about Nicholas' alleged indulgences in drugs and prostitutes:
* An equestrian estate in Laguna Hills, where Nicholas had constructed a series of tunnels and underground rooms, including one that contractors alleged was intended to become a "secret and convenient lair" to indulge his "manic obsession with prostitutes."
* A warehouse-office complex in nearby Laguna Niguel, which contractors said was used for sex and drugs and nicknamed "The Ponderosa."
* A Newport Coast residence where Nicholas was trying to start a record company and where rock groups frequently visited.]-LAT
