Ex-CEO Ebbers has trio of appeal options available

Former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers is scheduled to report to federal prison Tuesday, but he has three more options for appeal.

Ebbers was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in March 2005 for his role in the accounting scandal that led to the company's demise.

A three-judge panel for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld Ebbers' conviction and sentence, rejecting defense arguments that he was denied a fair trial and that 25 years was too long for the crime.

Ebbers can seek a rehearing by the three-judge panel that upheld his sentence and a hearing by the full 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Finally, he can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"That's the last grasp of a person on his way to prison," Matt Steffey, a law professor at Mississippi College in Jackson, said of requesting a full hearing by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

"Unless he can show the (three) judges made some grievous error in their opinion, they're not going to grant a rehearing. You have to show that in their written opinion they got something wrong, something demonstrably wrong, like relying on a case that was bad law and has been overturned."

More than likely Ebbers will spend the rest of his life incarcerated unless he's pardoned by President Bush or the Supreme Court overturns his sentence - and both scenarios are unlikely, Steffey said.

"The Supreme Court hears less than 100 cases a year," he said, "and it's probably not going to hear his. His chances are slim to none."

Ebbers' lead attorney, Reid Weingarten of Washington, has vowed to push forward with appeals.

"We didn't expect the Second Circuit to bless the prosecution's cynical manipulation of witnesses that prevented the jury from hearing important, persuasive and exculpatory evidence. We are not giving up and won't stop fighting until Bernie Ebbers is completely vindicated," he said in a statement released after Ebbers' conviction and sentence was upheld.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not release the location where an offender will serve time before being taken into its custody. The inmate locator on the bureau's Web site on Friday listed Bernard J. Ebbers, registration number as 56022-054, age 65, a white male, but indicated he was not in the bureau's custody.

But U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones in August 2005 said she would recommend Ebbers serve his sentence at the minimum-security facility in Yazoo City - the same prison recommended for former WorldCom controller David Myers, who testified against Ebbers, to serve his sentence of one year and one day for his role in the scandal.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons Web site shows Myers, 49, was released on Aug. 23. It does not say where he served.

The site also shows former WorldCom chief financial officer Scott D. Sullivan, 44, the chief prosecution witness against Ebbers, is at the federal prison in Jesup, Ga., 65 miles southwest of Savannah. His projected release date is March 20, 2010.

Charlie Smith, who handles public information for the Yazoo City Federal Correctional Facility, said the bureau tries to accommodate a judge's recommendation about where an offender should serve time. "We try to place an offender within 500 miles of his residence," he said.

The bureau determines an offender's classification based on the length of his sentence, security level, prior convictions, violence, escape history and if he voluntarily surrendered, he said. "We put all this information into a computer and it spits out the security level," he said.

An offender's classification determines security, living arrangements and even the color of clothing he wears.

The Yazoo City Federal Correctional Facility has three security levels: minimum security, also known as a federal prison camp; low security; and medium security. The Yazoo City facility has 135 prisoners in minimum security, 1,800 in low security and 1,482 in medium security and employs 525 people.

Minimum security has dormitory housing, whereas medium security is mostly cell-type housing. Minimum-security prisoners in Yazoo City wear forest green button-up shirts and pants, while low- and medium-security prisoners wear khaki button-up shirts and pants, Smith said.

Upon reporting to prison, Ebbers will be fingerprinted, photographed, given prison clothing and interviewed, Smith said.

All prisoners physically able are required to work seven hours a day, Smith said. "We have any job you'd find in a small city," he said, naming food service, landscaping and maintenance as examples.

Most low-security prisoners earn $5.25 a month, he said.