Another reason I’m going to miss Portfolio magazine . . . in their latest issue, they look at former CEOs who could face criminal charges stemming from the economic meltdown. They asked eight legal experts, ranging from former U.S. attorney general Dick Thornburgh to (sigh) congressman Barney Frank to (double sigh) former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, about which corporate leaders were most likely to be indicted.

Number four on their list might have some interesting political ramifications:

Angelo Mozilo, Former CEO, Countrywide
Legal issue: The company faced predatory lending charges from about 11 state attorneys general. Mozilo is accused of fraudulently misleading investors about credit risks.
Possible charges: Securities fraud and insider trading.
The PR headache: No executive embodies the subprime crisis more than Mozilo. The public seems hell-bent on holding someone accountable.
The investigation: The SEC and FBI are all over Countrywide, probing Mozilo’s trading in company stock and the company’s financial disclosures.
Jury deliberation: “This guy’s managed to make himself public enemy No. 1.” . . . “The subprime people did a great injury to this country. These guys were selling junk beyond junk. Mozilo’s on the wrong side of a very difficult issue.”
Odds of prosecution: 4:1
The verdict: The smart money bets against Mozilo.

If the name Angelo Mozilo sounds familiar, it’s probably because of Countrywide Financial’s “Friends of Angelo” program, in which his company “provided loans on favorable terms to V.I.P. borrowers, the nation’s largest mortgage lender curried favor with politicians, government officials, and business partners who were in a position to influence policy, profits, or public opinion.”

Among the Friends of Angelo: Sens. Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad, former cabinet members Alphonso Jackson and Donna Shalala, former United Nations Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former Fannie Mae CEOs James Johnson and Franklin Raines, former Countrywide director and former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, former White House staffer Paul Begala, now a commentator on CNN, and Postmaster General John Potter.

So if, hypothetically, Mozillo were to be indicted, what could he tell prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence?