Houston ? Lawyers for Jeffrey Skilling have asked the government to release $60 million in assets under its control, citing the former Enron Corp. CEO’s acquittal on insider trading charges connected to the funds.

Defense attorney Daniel Petrocelli filed a motion with U.S. District Court Judge Sim Lake on Monday requesting the assets be released to Skilling.

Skilling owes Petrocelli’s firm, Los Angeles-based O’Melveny and Myers, “tens of millions of dollars,” Petrocelli said.

Along with Enron founder Kenneth Lay, Skilling was convicted in May of lying to investors and employees about Enron’s health before the company collapsed into bankruptcy protection in December 2001.

A jury convicted Skilling of 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors. Jurors found Skilling guilty of only one of 10 counts he faced for insider trading.