Ebbers gets 25 years and Martha Stewart gets what?

Worldcom's ex-boss gets 25 years
Former Worldcom boss Bernard Ebbers wept openly as he was sentenced to 25 years in jail for his part in the scandal which brought down the firm.
Mr Ebbers was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy in March, following revelations of an $11bn (£6.2bn) accounting fraud at Worldcom in 2002.

The 63-year-old was also guilty of seven counts of filing false documents.

The sentence was handed down by federal judge Barbara Jones, who earlier this week rejected his bid for a new trial.

The sentence was the toughest yet in a string of corporate scandals in the US.

Mr Ebbers did not address the court. Instead, he wiped his eyes with a white tissue. Meanwhile, Kristie Ebbers, his wife, cried quietly.

The jail term effectively satisfies pleas from prosecutors for a life sentence to be imposed on Mr Ebbers.

Mr Ebbers will begin serving his sentence at a federal prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi, situated close to his home.

'Leader' in crime

Defence lawyer Reid Weingarten had called for a more lenient sentence, given Mr Ebbers' heart condition and his involvement in charitable works.

However, Judge Barbara Jones said she did not believe his heart condition was sufficiently serious to warrant a reduced sentence.


A sentence of anything less would not reflect the seriousness of the crime Barbara Jones, Federal Judge

She also rejected his lawyers' contention that the government overstated the losses that investors suffered in the fraud.

And she rejected their contention that Mr Ebbers was not a mastermind of the accounting wrongdoing.

Mr Ebbers "was clearly a leader of criminal activity in this case," the judge said.

"A sentence of anything less would not reflect the seriousness of the crime."

Biggest bankruptcy


Worldcom's collapse was the biggest bankruptcy in US corporate history.

Some 20,000 workers lost their jobs, while shareholders lost about $180bn, when the company filed for bankruptcy protection.