On Wednesday, it appeared that Adelphia Communications’s tortured four-and-a-half year journey through the bankruptcy process was finally near its end, as U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Gerber handed down a massive 267-page opinion confirming court approval of Adelphia’s Chapter 11 plan. Adelphia, which had ranked as the fifth largest cable operator in the U.S., was forced into bankruptcy in 2002 after it was discovered that Adelphia’s founder, John Rigas, and members of his family had siphoned millions of dollars from the company for personal use.