Right Thinking From The Left Coast
No legacy is so rich as honesty - William Shakespeare

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

PrisonCom
by Lee

Bernie Ebbers is off to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.

Bernard Ebbers, who built WorldCom from a humble Mississippi long-distance concern into a telecommunications titan, was convicted Tuesday of engineering the colossal accounting fraud that sank the company.

A federal jury in Manhattan deliberated eight days before returning guilty verdicts on all counts — one count of conspiracy, one count of securities fraud and seven counts of false regulatory filings. The crimes carry up to 85 years in prison.

When the verdict was read, Ebbers’ face reddened. His wife, Christie, and other family members broke into tears. Afterward, Ebbers and his wife hailed a taxi outside the courthouse and left without speaking to reporters.

“We’re all devastated,” said defense attorney Reid Weingarten. “It’s very sad it came out the way it did.”

Sentencing was set for June 13. Weingarten said an appeal was planned, adding: “We are obviously extremely disappointed with this verdict, but the fight will continue.”

There was no immediate comment from any of the jurors.

Remember when all these scandals broke?  I remember hearing lefties (including Michael Moore, though I haven’t been able to find the quote) stating that the eeeevil kkkorporate Bush junta would never let any of their business cronies go to prison.  Well, this is just the latest example of how wrong they were.  And let’s not forget that Ken “Kenny Boy” Lay is up for trial next year.  Lay, a personal friend of two presidents, is about go to trial and, hopefully, prison.  There are very few countries in the world where personal friends of the head of government get in trouble with the law, let alone spending the rest of their lives in prison.

Bernie Ebbers is 63.  He faces up to 85 years in prison.  Do the math.

Posted by Lee on 03/15/05 at 12:36 PM in Politics  • (1) Trackbacks • Permalink • Discuss this in the forums
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