NEW YORK, March 15 (UPI) -- The decision by former WorldCom head Bernard Ebbers to testify may have cost him the verdict, a former assistant U.S. attorney told UPI Tuesday.
"I think in a case like this it's pretty hard," said former assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Eliason, because "the jury is going to want to hear his version. If you're claiming that, as the defense was, all of this was going on without your knowledge, that's a tough defense to make."
Ebbers, 63, was convicted of orchestrating fraudulent accounting practices that fleeced $11 billion from the telecommunications company now known as MCI. He was found guilty last month by a federal jury in New York on nine counts of fraud, conspiracy and filing false documents.
Ebbers, who will be sentenced in June, faces up to 85 years in prison.
Worldcom changed its name after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy three years ago. Some 20,000 people lost their jobs after the company's financial crash, along with about $600 million in employee pensions.
