Former WorldCom CEO asks Bush to shorten sentence

[merh]

Source: The Associated Press

Former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers has asked President George 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 based telecommunications company.

Read more: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20081204/NEWS/8120...

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Who is surprised by this?

[AllentownJake]

1. Good luck with that Bernie

In this climate I don't even think Bush is brazen enough to do that.

[Alcibiades]

2. This could be the issue that keeps the Republicans out of office

Soft on crime? Only if the convicted is a multimillionaire! Steal a car and get 10 years or more. Steal a billion here or there, get pardoned.

If Bush pardons a whole slew of white collar criminals and Republicans as the final act of his presidency, we need to harp on it as if it were Watergate. Because it should be bigger than Watergate.

That, by the way, is why the Marc Rich pardon was a big deal. Thanks to that one sleazy pardon, the Republicans can deny their own criminality by claiming it's bipartisan. The way around that, of coursem, is to remind everyone that Marc Rich is a Republican and Scooter Libby worked on his request.

[maddezmom]

3. duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...