NEW YORK, March 15 (UPI) -- A New York jury Tuesday convicted Bernard Ebbers, former head of WorldCom, of a key role in an $11 billion bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal said.
The convictions on all nine counts, one of conspiracy, one of securities fraud and seven of filing false statements with securities regulators, came on the eighth day of deliberations.
The bankruptcy of WorldCom, now known as MCI Inc., was the largest insolvency case in the U.S. history and became a symbol of U.S. corporate corruption.
Ebbers, 63, faces as much as 85 years in prison, though sentencing guidelines point to a much shorter sentence. Sentencing is set for June 13.
His conviction is a coup for federal prosecutors.
"This is the mother lode for the government in its campaign against corporate fraud," said Orin Snyder, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Jurors essentially believed the prosecution's star witness, WorldCom's former finance chief, Scott Sullivan, who pleaded guilty and hopes his cooperation will help win a lighter sentence.
Sullivan testified during the six-week trial Ebbers pressured him to do whatever it took to keep WorldCom in Wall Street's good graces.
Ebbers said he was unaware of accounting problems.
