Federal judge denies new trial for Ebbers News
Federal judge denies new trial for Ebbers

[JURIST] Judge Barbara Jones [NYT profile], in a ruling made public Tuesday, has denied a petition by former WorldCom [MCIWorldCom website] CEO Bernard Ebbers [JURIST news archive] for a new trial, opening the way for him to be sentenced as scheduled on Wednesday for the huge WorldCom business fraud. Ebbers had made various arguments claiming that the judge or prosecutors should have granted immunity to certain witnesses that he believes could have aided him in combatting some of the fraud-related charges. He was convicted in March [JURIST report] of orchestrating the $11 billion accounting scam that led to the telecommunications giant's downfall. AP has more.