Bernie Ebbers got popped for 25 years today. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed, although this is clearly a death sentence.

In papers filed last month, prosecutors asked Jones to follow a probation report that suggested Ebbers receive a life sentence after calculating his crimes under federal sentencing guidelines.

The prosecutors also noted that Adelphia Communications Corp. founder John Rigas, 80 and in poor health, received a 15-year sentence last month — amounting to a life term — for his role in the fraud at that company.

"The enormity of the crimes that Ebbers committed cannot be overstated: The fraud at WorldCom was the largest securities fraud in history," prosecutors wrote, noting the name WorldCom is now "synonymous with fraud."

Still, a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year made the sentencing guidelines only advisory for federal judges, not mandatory, giving Jones far greater flexibility in determining Ebbers' penalty.

For his part, the 63-year-old former CEO has asked for a term "substantially below" life in prison, citing his poor health and a history of charitable works. More than 100 people have also written to Jones on his behalf.

The judge ruled earlier that she would allow Ebbers to call witnesses at sentencing — to discuss his character and his medical condition.

The sentencing was coming a day after the judge denied a bid by Ebbers for a new trial — a ruling in which she cited "strong" evidence supporting the conviction, including government witnesses who "outlined the fraud in painstaking detail."

Ebbers had argued the judge or prosecutors should have granted immunity to three witnesses that Ebbers contends could have helped clear him of charges related to the fraud.

His lawyers also said prosecutors unfairly prejudiced jurors by suggesting in their closing statement that there was evidence outside the trial record that proved government witnesses were telling the truth.

The sentencing was also part of a damaging week for Ebbers, once known as a swaggering and successful CEO as WorldCom grew ever larger in the late 1990s.

On Monday, another judge gave her blessing to a settlement under which Ebbers must forfeit almost all his personal assets, including $5 million cash up front, to resolve a shareholder lawsuit.

That settlement will leave Ebbers' wife with about $50,000 of Ebbers' assets and a modest home in Jackson, Miss. A far more lavish family home in Brookhaven, Miss., will be sold off as part of the settlement.

Bernie screwed a bunch of people hard.