Ex-WorldCom CEO reports to La. prison

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By DOUG SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer

Tue Sep 26, 6:11 PM ET

 

 

 

OAKDALE, La. - Former WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers drove through the gates of a federal prison Tuesday to begin a 25-year sentence for his role in the $11 billion accounting fraud that toppled the company he built from a tiny telecommunications firm to an industry giant.

 

Behind the wheel of a Mercedes he had driven from Mississippi, Ebbers pulled the bill of his cap down, shielding his face from reporters and photographers, as he drove into the prison.

 

Ebbers left his upscale, brick-and-stucco home in a gated community in the Jackson suburb of Ridgeland about 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday. He arrived shortly after 2 p.m. EDT at Oakdale.

 

At his home on Monday, he had refused to answer any questions and told an Associated Press reporter to leave.

 

"You're not even supposed to be on this property," said Ebbers, 65, who answered the door wearing a light blue golf shirt and blue jeans.

 

Ebbers walked outside, with a cigar in his mouth, to watch the reporter leave his property.

 

Ebbers reported to prison the same day that another high-profile corporate felon was sentenced. Andrew Fastow, the mastermind behind the doomed Enron Corp., received six years in prison for masterminding the financial schemes that cause Enron to collapse in 2001, wiping out thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion in market value and more than $2 billion in pension plans.

 

Fastow was the company's former chief financial officer and cooperated with prosecutors in other cases related to Enron's implosion. His cooperation earned him a lighter term than the maximum 10-year sentence he agreed to when he pleaded guilty in 2004.

 

The scandals at Enron and WorldCom became symbols of corporate greed in America.

 

Ebbers, a former high school basketball coach, was sentenced in July of last year after he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the massive fraud that drove Clinton, Miss.-based WorldCom into bankruptcy in 2002.

 

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Ebbers' conviction and sentence last month. His attorney has said they will continue to appeal, but he has few options, said Ron Rychlak, associate dean of the University of Mississippi School of Law.

 

"I understand they're going to ask the 2nd Circuit to reconsider the case on whole. Three judges heard the case against him originally and he could ask all the judges on the court to hear the case," Rychlak said. "It's pretty rare. The other thing would be to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case. That also is a very rarely granted situation."

 

Investigators uncovered $11 billion in fraud at WorldCom Inc., much of it because accountants were classifying regular expenses as long-term capital expenditures. The company re-emerged under the name MCI. Verizon later bought MCI.

 

The Oakdale Correctional Complex consists of two facilities: a low-security prison housing male inmates and a prison camp with minimum-security male inmates. It was not known which facility Ebbers would be assigned to. The Federal Bureau of Prisons did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

 

Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, who is serving a 10-year sentence for extorting riverboat casinos, is currently housed at the Oakdale camp, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons Web site.