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JULY 14, 2005
By Steve Rosenbush The Message in Ebbers' Sentence [Page 2 of 2] "WASN'T JUST EBBERS." "I represent the common man...the working professional...and the average investor that has suffered untold human carnage financially, personally, and professionally as a result of the criminal activities of Bernard Ebbers and his co-conspirators," he told the court. Bruen says many WorldCom employees shared his fate. Speaking to reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom, just moments after the sentencing, Bruen expressed satisfaction with the results, saying, "It sends a message." But another former employee was taken aback by the sentence. "It wasn't just Ebbers," says former WorldCom sales executive Glenn Klupsak, who sat through the entire trial. Klupsak, who left WorldCom in 1998 -- well before the accounting fraud at issue in the indictment began -- says his stock options were rendered worthless and that he suffered "seven-figure" losses. He maintains WorldCom's advisers and bankers at Salomon Brothers, including former telecom analyst Jack Grubman, should have shared the blame. "They were responsible, too," Klupsak says. PLEA FOR MERCY. As for the sentence, it far outstripped anything that Klupsak expected. "I thought it would be closer to 10 years," Klupsak says. Was 25 years for Ebbers fair? "I don't know," said the stunned ex-employee, just moments after his former boss was sentenced. Ebbers lead attorney, Reid Weingarten, says he looks forward to appealing the verdict and the sentence. Weingarten, who has known Ebbers for years, shed tears as he pleaded with the judge to show mercy. He noted that Ebbers was in poor health, suffering from a heart condition, and that he had made $100 million in anonymous charitable donations over the years. "Doesn't that count for anything...for anything?" he asked. The judge didn't flinch when it came time to pronounce sentence. She said that under federal guidelines, Ebbers ought to receive 30 years in prison. But she took five years off the sentence because of several factors, including Ebbers' charitable activities. A POSTER BOY? Given his age and health, however, it's probably a meaningless gesture, considering that there's a good chance Ebbers will die in prison. Jones's only concession: She'll make it easier for him to wind up in a low-security prison in Yazoo, Miss., near his home. Given the length of the sentence, he could have ended up in a medium-security facility. Weingarten addressed the press outside, at the foot of the court house's imposing steps. Surrounded by a mob of reporters, Weingarten told them that Ebbers continues to proclaim his innocence. "The problem with this case is that Bernard Ebbers was transformed into a symbol of greedy, corrupt executives," the lawyer said. Prosecutors were under immense pressure to bring charges because so many members of the public lost money. WorldCom's value in the stock market declined by $187 billion, or 90% of its value. And on the way down, it wiped out the life savings of employees and investors, and hurt major investors such as Merrill Lynch (MER ), Oppenheimer Capital, and the College Retirement Equities Fund. Rivals such as AT&T and Verizon also complained that WorldCom forced them to compete against an unattainable, phantom benchmark of success, distorting the entire telecom industry. BUCK STOPS HERE. Working with little direct evidence, a prosecution team led by David Anders convinced the jury to find Ebbers guilty despite the testimony of tainted witnesses like former WorldCom CFO Scott Sullivan (see BW Online, 03/16/05, "Ebbers: Giant Fraud, Simple Conclusion"). Anders seems to have swayed Jones as well. Weingarten argued until the end that Sullivan was really the main culprit. But Jones brushed aside that argument on the day of sentencing, saying, "It seems quite clear to me Mr. Ebbers was central to the criminal activity in this case." And her point was driven home in a record-breaking sentence that surely could send a message to every CEO in America.
 Rosenbush is a senior writer for BusinessWeek Online in New York
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