The former chief executive at Qwest Communications says his company lost hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts after it refused to participate in a secret National Security Agency spy program that the company thought was illegal. Former chief executive Joseph Nacchio said the NSA approached Qwest about participating in the surveillance program six months before the Sept. 11 attacks. In July, Nacchio was sentenced to six years in prison for insider trading, but he is currently free on appeal. Court documents released last week show a federal judge rejected multiple requests from Nacchio to introduce information about the government’s controversial phone-tapping program as part of his defense against insider-trading charges.