Former WorldCom chief financial officer Scott Sullivan was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday, bringing to a close the sentencings for those who played a role in the $11 billion accounting fraud at the telecommunications company.
Sullivan was the fifth WorldCom executive to be sentenced to prison, and his sentence is topped only by former chief executive Bernard Ebbers, who was sentenced to serve 25 years by U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Jones.
In a settlement announced in July, Sullivan has already agreed to liquidate his 401(k) account, valued at about $200,000, and sell a mansion he was building in Florida, valued at $5 million after accounting for a number of liens on the property. The agreement, reached with New York's state comptroller, will see its proceeds go to WorldCom shareholders.
Sullivan, who had pleaded guilty to fraud, delivered more than 30 hours of testimony against Ebbers during Ebbers' criminal trial. Other cooperators in the government's case included former controller David Myers and former accounting director Buford Yates, who were each sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Accounting manager Betty Vinson will serve five months in prison and five months of house arrest and accountant, Troy Normand received three years of probation.
