Former WorldCom CEO asks Bush to shorten sentence

JACKSON, Miss. - Former WorldCom Chief Executive Bernie Ebbers has asked President George W. Bush to shorten his 25-year sentence.

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said Thursday that Ebbers applied for the commutation recently and "it is under consideration."

Ebbers was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in 2005 for his role in the $11 billion accounting scandal that forced WorldCom into bankruptcy, wiping out those who had invested in the Clinton, Miss., based telecommunications company.

The case was billed as one of the largest accounting frauds in history.

Ebbers appealed his lengthy sentence, but a judge ruled the former CEO played a substantial role in bilking investors and left the penalty intact.

Ebbers' lead attorney during his trial and appeal, Reid H. Weingarten, did not return a phone message from The Associated Press on Thursday.

Ebbers helped build the company into a dot-com success story with 90,000 employees and reported revenues of $39 million by 2000.

Prosecutors argued during Ebbers' trial that he played a lead role in the scheme to prop up the company's stock price as it began to tumble during the dot-com decline.

Ebbers had a personal stake in the dropping price. He had used company stock as collateral to borrow $400 million to finance other ventures, including a ranch, timberland and a yacht-building company.

His attorneys argued on appeal that Ebbers' sentence was far too steep when compared to other white-collar crimes. They noted other WorldCom officials sentenced in the fraud case received sentences of five months to five years.

The judge ruled that as Ebbers had "primary responsibility" for the fraud, and that unlike other company officials, he chose to go to trial rather than plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors.

The Justice Department Web site says to qualify for commutation, Ebbers must have exhausted his appeals opportunities and must be serving his sentence. Officials will now investigate whether Ebbers qualifies for a commutation, which is not an act of forgiveness like a pardon.

Ebbers is in a federal prison in Oakdale, La.

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