NEW YORK, 14 July 2005 — Former WorldCom Chief Executive Bernard Ebbers was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for his role in the fraud scheme at the telecom giant that led to the biggest corporate collapse in US history. “A sentence of anything less would not reflect the seriousness of the crime,” US District Judge Barbara Jones said in ordering the sentence. The term is effectively a life sentence for the 63-year-old Ebbers, who built one of the biggest US telecom empires and became a symbol of the corporate scandals that rocked the financial world.
Ebbers was ordered to report to a federal prison in Mississippi on Oct. 12. After prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of up to 85 years, the judge said her reading of sentencing guidelines suggested a range of 30 years to life. But she then said “30 years would be excessive,” and decided on a 25-year term after hearing pleas from the defense about Ebbers’ heart condition and charitable work.
The sentence is nonetheless one of the stiffest in recent memory in a white-collar crime case and reflects the effort to crack down on corporate misconduct in the wake of the scandals at Enron, WorldCom and other companies that roiled financial markets and prompted legislative reforms.
Defense attorney Reid Weingarten argued for leniency, saying prosecution estimates of losses of some $2 billion was an exaggeration and that much of this came from economic market forces and not fraud. In an emotional plea, Weingarten said Ebbers “has grieved from day one of the failure of WorldCom for those who lost money. He has grieved every day.”
He also described Ebbers’ charitable work, calling him “an angel” who had given more than $100 million to orphanages, schools and other organizations. The judge rejected most of the defense pleas. “This was not a minor fraud,” Jones said.
Responding to the claim that Ebbers simply went along with the fraud, Jones stated: “It is quite clear to me that Mr. Ebbers was a leader of criminal activity in this case.” She also said that despite Ebbers heart condition, saying, “I do not have any reason to believe that they (US Bureau of Prisons) cannot give him adequate medical care.” But the judge said she did take into account Ebbers’ health and his charitable work in making the reduction. Ahead of her decision, Jones also heard a scathing account of the impact of the fraud from former WorldCom employee and shareholder Henry Bruen.