KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Jurors struggling to reach a verdict in the federal fraud trial of two former Westar Energy Inc. executives have recessed for the weekend after they told a judge Friday that they are deadlocked on about half of the counts faced by former chief executive David Wittig and his top deputy.

Wittig, of Topeka, and former executive vice president Douglas Lake, of New Canaan, Conn., each face 40 counts related to allegations they tried to loot the largest electric utility in Kansas.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson told the prosecutor and defense attorneys late Friday morning that she had received a note from jurors stating they couldn’t reach a verdict on 22 counts.

The first is a conspiracy charge, counts two through 15 are circumvention of internal controls, and counts 16 through 22 are wire fraud charges. Counts 23 to 39 are for money laundering, and the 40th count is a forfeiture count.

After consulting with the attorneys, Robinson instructed jurors to resume deliberations and try to work through their disagreements.

Rich Hathaway, an assistant U.S. attorney, said he favored asking the jurors to continue deliberations.

However, attorneys for Wittig and Lake asked Robinson to declare a mistrial.

Jurors were to resume deliberations Monday morning.

Wittig and Lake left Westar late in 2002. Wittig resigned, and Westar’s directors placed Lake on an indefinite and unpaid leave.