As a shareholder of WorldCom, Bernie Ebbers cost me a lot of money because of his gigantic fraud (“Ebbers’ sentence 25 years; WorldCom CEO’s term toughest yet in corporate scandals,” Business, July 14). Others fared much worse, as jobs were lost and lives destroyed. Even so, Ebbers’ sentence–25 years for an ailing 63-year-old man–strikes me as too much. Justice must be tempered with mercy.
When I was younger I thought it a travesty that men could commit horrific crimes with a pencil and receive nary a slap on the wrist. Lives were ruined as educated thieves lined their pockets with others’ hard-earned money. That was wrong. Now that I am older, I believe it equally wrong that a financial crime–even one as bad as Ebbers’ fraud–results in an effective life sentence. There should be a happy medium. In Ebbers’ case, 12 years–until he is 75–would be enough. If not dead by then, his life will be effectively over. Whether Ebbers was 40, 50 or 63, he should lose his liberty until 75 and forfeit his assets.
There’s much talk about federal sentencing guidelines. Call me old-fashioned, but I think there should be only one sentencing rule: no financial crime should be longer than the shortest murder sentence.
