Bernie Ebbers, the former Chairman on WorldCom has been sentenced to 25 years for the fraud that led to the company's collapse.

The $11bn fraud was one of the catalysts for the introduction of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Former WorldCom employees and investors were in the court to hear Judge Barbara S. Jones hand down the sentence.

The sentence she said was appropriate given the size and scope of the damage caused by the fraud.

Ebbers' defence had been that he was ignorant of the fraud taken place.

In the hearing Judge Jones said, "Mr Ebbers was the instigator in this fraud." She continued, ""Mr. Ebbers's statements deprived investors of their money. They might have made different decisions had they known the truth."

The eight week trial finished in March with convictions on nine counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and filing false reports with regulators.

Ebbers, aged 64, will be 85 at least, when he is released. This assumes he serves the minimum 85% of his sentence.

He has to report to prison on October 12. This is likely to be Yazoo City, Miss. Judge Jones recommended he be treated as a low-security prisoner.

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