WorldCom Chief Is Given 25 Years for Huge Fraud

...and another one bites the dust!

Out justice system isn't perfect and often doesn't work but when it does it sure is worth it. I'll be the first one to kvetch about how the rich protect their own and all that but every now and then somebody gets sacrificed for the greater good of protecting the upper 1% American caste. I can live with that...for now.

Here's the story:

Bernard J. Ebbers, the former chairman of WorldCom, was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for orchestrating a record $11 billion fraud that toppled the telecommunications company he founded.

Judge Barbara S. Jones of Federal District Court in Manhattan handed down the sentence in a packed courtroom that included former WorldCom employees and investors.

She said the penalty - the stiffest in a corporate fraud case in recent memory - was appropriate given the size and scope of the damages.

"Mr. Ebbers was the instigator in this fraud," she said during the 90-minute proceeding, rebutting arguments that Mr. Ebbers was duped by his subordinates. "Mr. Ebbers's statements deprived investors of their money. They might have made different decisions had they known the truth." (More)