[JURIST] Former WorldCom [MCI/WorldCom website] CEO Bernard Ebbers [JURIST news archive] began his 25-year prison sentence [JURIST report] Tuesday in the Oakdale Correctional Complex [official website] federal prison in Louisiana. In July a federal appeals court affirmed [ruling, PDF] his securities fraud conviction [JURIST report] and rejected contentions that a 25-year sentence for the 65-year old Canadian-born ex-executive who started out as the owner of a Mississippi motel chain in the 1980s was unreasonably long for a non-violent conviction.

Ebbers was convicted of fraud and conspiracy [JURIST report] in March 2005 in connection with an $11 billion scheme which drove telecom giant WorldCom [JURIST news archive] into bankruptcy. AP has more.