There were two main questions for jurors. Firstly, did WorldCom's Chief Financial Officer, who pleaded guilty to securities fraud last year, falsely blame Ebbers to reduce his own sentence? And secondly, could Bernie Ebbers really not have known about the massive fraud taking place right under his nose?
After eight days' deliberation, the New York jury returned its verdict, finding Ebbers guilty on all nine counts of securities fraud, conspiracy, and filing false documents with regulators.
In theory, the maximum sentence that Ebbers could face is 85 years. But speaking to the BBC, George Newhouse, a lawyer who specialises in white-collar criminal defence with US firm Thelen Reid & Priest, predicted between five and 10 years.
