Alexander is currently in Namibia, fighting extradition to the U.S. His high-profile flight and the subsequent manhunt injected some drama into the otherwise-obscure scandal over stock-option backdating.

FORBES: Comverse CFO Settles Backdating Charges

In his strong-fisted ruling, Carney cited prosecutorial misconduct, a lack of evidence against Ruehle, and even went so far as to recommend that the (newly humbled) prosecutors drop the same option backdating charges against Nick and his co-founder Henry Samueli.

FORBES: Judge Rules Nicholas Will Not Face Drug Charges