NEW YORK, June 11 (UPI) -- More than 170 people have written letters on behalf of Bernard Ebbers, the former head of WorldCom, who faces life in prison for conspiracy and fraud.
Ebbers, convicted of conspiracy, securities fraud and false filings, is scheduled for sentencing July 13.
Prosecutors described the former chief executive of the second-largest U.S. telecommunications company as a force who devised an $11 billion scheme to inflate earnings and micromanaged the company -- going as far as to monitor his employees' coffee consumption, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
"I personally lost most of my net worth in the WorldCom meltdown," Atlanta investment banker Wilkie S. Colyer wrote in a letter to the sentencing judge. "However, I do not blame Bernie, nor do I believe he would deliberately cook his company's books."
Ebbers' lawyers filed a motion Friday urging the judge to consider their client's history of heart trouble and his donations of more than $100 million to charity.
He is also negotiating to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by WorldCom shareholders, a move that could help Ebbers reduce his stay in prison by helping make restitution to victims.
