After serving more than 13 years in federal prison, former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers secures compassionate release thanks to FIRST STEP Act
Regularly readers know that I have been regularly extolling the significance of the FIRST STEP Act's changes to the so-called compassionate release provisions of federal law. In many prior posts I have stressed the provision which now allows federal courts to directly reduce sentences under the statutory provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) without awaiting a motion by the Bureau of Prisons; this provision is such a big deal because, if applied appropriately and robustly, this provision could and should enable many hundreds, and perhaps many thousands, of federal prisoners to have excessive prison sentences reduced.
Today, as reported in this Bloomberg piece, the highest-profile defendant to date has benefited from this FIRST STEP Act change: "Bernard Ebbers, the former WorldCom Inc. chief executive officer, was ordered freed from prison, almost eight years before he was due to be released." Here is more from the press piece:
A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday granted compassionate release to Ebbers, who is serving a 25-year sentence for an $11 billion fraud that bankrupted the company. U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni said Ebbers’s health is failing and that letting him out early doesn’t minimize the impact of his punishment.
Relatives of the 78-year-old reacted with jubilation in court. “We’re elated and just very grateful not only for Mr. Ebbers but especially for his family,” lawyer Graham Carner said after the hearing. “All they wanted was for him to live out his time with them.”
Ebbers has served more than 13 years for overseeing the fraud, which was the biggest in U.S. history at the time. He was scheduled to be released in July 2028 with credit for good behavior. It isn’t immediately clear when he will leave prison.
Attorneys for Ebbers asked Caproni in September to free him due to his many medical problems, including macular degeneration that has left him legally blind and a heart condition that makes him vulnerable to cardiac arrest. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons had denied a request from Ebbers’s daughters for compassionate release under the 2018 First Step Act, which allows some federal inmates to be released if they are over 60 years old and face terminal illnesses.
While Caproni noted that records “suggest some exaggeration of his mental condition” that led her to believe Ebbers was trying to manipulate her, she also expressed concern that he’s malnourished and appears to have lost almost 60 pounds since last year.
Some of many prior related posts:
- Medical disputes before federal court as high-profile, white-collar prisoner seeks compassionate release
- Compassionate release after FIRST STEP: Should many thousands of ill and elderly federal inmates now be seeking reduced imprisonment in court?
- Encouraging new reports about encouraging new compassionate release realities thanks to FIRST STEP Act
- Highlighting how judges can now bring needed compassion to compassionate release after FIRST STEP Act
- New District Court ruling confirms that "any extraordinary and compelling reasons" can now provide basis for reducing imprisonment under 3582(c)(1)(A)
- District Court finds statutory sentence reform among "extraordinary and compelling reasons" for reducing LWOP sentence under 3582(c)(1)(A)
- Another LWOP federal drug sentence reduced under 3582(c)(1)(A) after FIRST STEP Act
- Another District Court finds statutory sentence reform among "extraordinary and compelling reasons" for reducing sentence by 40 years under 3582(c)(1)(A)
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