News in Brief 14 July 2005

Ebbers Gets 25-Years; Judge Needs To Explain Sentence in Context

Bernard J. Ebbers, the former chairman of WorldCom, was sentenced yesterday to 25-years in prison for the scandal he caused, a record $11 billion fraud that toppled the telecommunications company he founded and built.

Mr. Ebbers's sentencing came three years after the collapse of WorldCom, prompting lawmakers to approve the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the most comprehensive changes in securities laws since the Depression.

"Bernie Ebbers's criminal actions wiped out billions of dollars belonging to WorldCom investors, cost thousands of employees their jobs and retirees their pensions," Alan G. Hevesi, the New York State comptroller and court-appointed lead plaintiff in the WorldCom securities class action, said in a statement. "That's why it is so important to send a strong message with a severe sentence for Ebbers."

After handing down the sentence, Judge Barbara S. Jones of Federal District Court in Manhattan saw that Ebbers had a perplexed look on his face, as if not understanding the number or terms of the sentence.

"Think of it this way Mr. Ebbers", said Judge Jones. "I'm really giving you a sentence of 325-years, but, like the mathematics and values you used with your company, it's really only worth 25-years".

According to federal guidelines, Mr. Ebbers must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. That is the equivalent of 21 years and 3 months in prison, which would make him 85 upon his release.