A federal judge ordered the early release from prison of former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers — mastermind of one of the biggest accounting frauds in history — on Wednesday as a result of his dire medical condition.
Ebbers, 78, had served about 13 years of his 25-year prison sentence for orchestrating the $11 billion accounting fraud by the defunct telecommunications company WorldCom.
He had been scheduled to be freed in 2028 before Wednesday’s ruling in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Federal prosecutors in a court filing in November had suggested Ebbers was faking illness to win early release.
But Ebbers family said he was suffering from dementia, and also had lost dramatic amounts of weight in addition to being legally blind.
Bernie Ebbers
David Karp | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ebbers’ family was in the courtroom during a hearing on Ebbers’ bid for release. They wept when the judge’s decision was announced.
Ebbers, who had been serving his time in a federal prison in Forth Worth, Texas, will live with his family in Mississippi upon release.
He was convicted at trial in early 2005.
Attorney Graham Carner argues his case in front of Judge Valerie Caprioni.
Elizabeth Williams
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