Bernard Ebbers, the former WorldCom chairman, was yesterday sentenced to 25 years in prison for overseeing the biggest bankruptcy in US history at the telecommunications company he founded.
A New York jury found Mr Ebbers guilty of conspiracy and securities fraud and seven counts of making false filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr Ebbers, who was also WorldCom's chief executive, was freed pending an appeal.
Prosecutors had asked for a life term because of the size of the $11 billion fraud for which Mr Ebbers was convicted earlier this year, but the 63-year-old's defence team argued that he should receive a shorter jail term because of his age, fragile health and community service.
The sentencing followed a ruling by US district judge Barbara Jones that Mr Ebbers was not entitled to a new trial.
His lawyers requested a retrial on the grounds that comments made by the judge might have influenced jurors.
WorldCom collapsed under a massive accounting fraud in 2002, eclipsing Enron as the biggest bankruptcy in US history.
Mr Ebbers, who developed the Mississippi-based group from an obscure long-distance carrier to the second biggest telecoms group in the US, was a hero in his home-town. Last month, he agreed to pay $45 million to settle all outstanding litigation against him. The money will be split between MCI, the company created in WorldCom's wake, and investors, who lost billions when WorldCom collapsed. - (Financial Times Service)
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