Ex-WorldCom's Ebbers sentenced to 25 yrs

Martha Graybow and Patrick Fitzgibbons

NEW YORK: Bernard Ebbers, the folksy entrepreneur who built WorldCom Inc. into a telecommunications giant before his fall from grace, was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years in prison for his role in the business fraud that led to the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcy.

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

Jones ordered Ebbers, 63, to surrender by Oct. 12 to a federal prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi. His lawyers asked that Ebbers be allowed to stay out of prison on bail while he pursues an appeal, something the government opposes.

Jones gave both sides several weeks to submit papers on that issue. The government was ordered to submit its argument within three weeks and the defense three weeks later.

While the sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of 30 years to life, Jones modified that to 25 years, citing Ebbers' good works in the community. Television reports originally reported that he had been sentenced to 30 years.

Jones rejected defense lawyers' contention that the government overstated the losses that investors suffered in the fraud. She also rejected the defense's contention that Ebbers was not a mastermind of the accounting wrongdoing.

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

(Additional reporting by Rasha Elass)