Ebbers Sentenced to 25 Years For Role in WorldCom Fraud

Former WorldCom Chief Executive Officer Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison yestderday after being denied a new trial the day before. Ebbers' sentence comes as a result of his conviction back in March on charges of securities fraud and other other charges that led to the bankruptcy of WorldCom in 2002. Ebbers' request for a new trial was based on his claim that three witnesses should have been granted immunity in the original trial. He claimed that this would have helped his case. The judge, however did not feel the same way. "I find that none of these new grounds requires a new trial," wrote Judge Barbara Jones in a ruling. "Defendant fails to show that the government has used immunity to gain a tactical advantage over him, or that the testimony of Beaumont, Lomenzo or Scott would be exculpatory" Erin McClam of AP latest ebusiness news