When Mr. Ryan was "resigned" in January, there were more than 25 companies being investigated in stock option backdating.  Balco and Apple were among them, as was Brocade Communications.

The New York Times has this update:

Former Brocade Communications Systems Inc. Chief Executive Gregory Reyes was convicted Tuesday of defrauding investors in the first stock options backdating case to go to trial.

The guilty verdict on all counts is an important validation of the Justice Department's options backdating probe, which has so far led to criminal charges against at least 10 executives. Reyes' case was seen as an important test of whether a jury considers it a crime deserving of jail time.

The indictments were in place for several months before Kevin Ryan's departure, and now Tim Crudo is reaping the kudos. Scott Schools was named interim US Attorney for the Northern District while the California Republicans made a wish list to be sent to President Bush. It seems that many of the sought-after replacements were busy with other things ... In May the names of two were sent to the White House for consideration. Joe Russoniello and Tim Crudo. Crudo apparently got the nod, but who is Tim Crudo?

Then there's Timothy Crudo, a onetime Latham & Watkins partner who's now the assistant U.S. attorney handling the pending stock option trial of former Brocade CEO Gregory Reyes. He's well-liked by the bench and his co-workers, and we hear that he could have some pull in D.C. thanks to two fellow Latham alums, Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff and Alice Fisher, current head of the DOJ's criminal division. Then again, Crudo only has a few years of prosecutorial experience, and little in the way of loyalist Republican credentials.

On May 7, 2007 Pacific Views had this to say about Crudo:

As expected, former U.S. attorney Joe Russoniello is one of the remaining candidates, according to Republican lawyers familiar with the process. But the other finalist is Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Crudo, who has taken on dark horse status after emerging from a monthlong screening process.

There was some skepticism at the time of Ryan's removal that any of the backdating investigations would bear fruit. Apparently, they have, at least in the case of Brocade, but only time will tell if the investigations into other Silicon Valley companies will end in indictments and trials. Again, according the New York Times article referenced above:

Instead, Reyes' conviction could embolden prosecutors. The federal government has reportedly been considering criminal charges against former executives at Apple Inc., KLA-Tencor Corp. and Broadcom Corp., companies that have all acknowledged stock options shenanigans.