A judge has upheld a civil verdict against the former head of Kmart Corp., who was found liable for misleading investors about the retailer's health in 2001.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Pepe (PAYP) vacated some findings of fact Wednesday but otherwise didn't upset the jury's verdict.

Charles Conaway's lawyer, Scott Lassar, says he's disappointed.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Conaway misled Kmart investors in a phone call with Wall Street analysts and in a report filed with regulators in 2001, a few months before a bankruptcy filing in 2002.

A jury found him liable in June. Pepe still hasn't ruled on Conaway's financial penalty.

Kmart is now a unit of Sears Holding, formed after financier Edward Lampert acquired Kmart in 2003 and Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 2005.