WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio alleged in court documents that the federal government canceled a lucrative contract with the National Security Agency after the company refused to participate in a separate surveillance program that the telecom firm thought might be illegal, according to a news report Saturday.

Nacchio, who was convicted in April on 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA had asked Qwest Q, +3.81% to participate in a warrantless surveillance program more than six months before the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Washington Post reported, citing court documents unsealed in Denver this week. Nacchio is appealing his conviction.