Bernie Ebbers, the man behind the WorldCom scandal, pleads for early release

Bernie Ebbers, the man behind one of the biggest corporate scandals in U.S. history, is asking to be let out of prison early on a compassionate release.

Ebbers was the CEO of WorldCom, once the second-largest telecom company in the U.S., headquartered in Clinton, Miss. WorldCom was one of the few publicly held Mississippi corporations and in the late ’90s, it seemed everything was going right for the company. In 1997, WorldCom merged with MCI in the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.

Five years later, in 2002, WorldCom declared bankruptcy after an $11 billion accounting fraud was revealed. Some 30,000 employees eventually lost their jobs and many lost their life savings, as the company once strongly advised betting on WorldCom stock to bulk up 401k retirement accounts. Other company shareholders lost billions practically overnight as the stocked tanked and was eventually delisted.

Also left in the dust were investors and vendor companies who never fully recouped $35 billion the company owed.

The company reorganized after bankruptcy under the name MCI in 2004, with most of its debt gone and most of its assets intact. It also left Mississippi for Virginia.

Convicted of securities fraud in 2005, Ebbers received a 25-year sentence, which he began in 2006. Reportedly, he has never admitted his responsibility in the matter, instead blaming people that worked for him. A number of those people were also convicted in the scandal after pleading guilty and cooperating in the investigation.

Now, the 78-year-old Ebbers is asking a judge to be let out due to failing health. His lawyers say he is legally blind and suffers from a heart condition and mental deterioration.

If he serves his entire term, Ebbers would be released in 2031 at age 90.