BURYING BERNIE

More than two years after the events that started WorldCom's downfall, the numbers attached to it are still staggering: $11 billion in misstated revenues, $180 billion in lost market capitalization and, perhaps most devastating, 17,000-plus employees out of work. Last week's indictment of former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers, and his subsequent not-guilty plea, ripped open some barely formed scabs that were just starting to heal throughout the telecom industry.

But throwing Ebbers into a dark cell at a maximum security penitentiary with violent criminals, as many former shareholders and current telecom executives have advocated, won't bring back what was lost. The cry for justice in the form of a pound of flesh from Ebbers, while a perfectly understandable emotional reaction, won't serve as reimbursement for those who paid the most. However, something symbolic would be nice.

Employees aren't getting back their jobs, 401(k) balances that were too heavily invested in WorldCom shares won't magically return to 2000 levels, and common shareholders won't wake up tomorrow to find their ownership restored. More than stripping real value from WorldCom and its backers, Ebbers' alleged wrongdoings had a tangential but significant impact on competitors, who suffered by trying to keep up with the company's falsified revenue statements. Public execution and humiliation won't make those companies whole again.

This is no call for mercy, though. Ebbers, if found guilty of the formal charges he now faces, deserves to be punished to the fullest extent allowable. Indeed, as head of the company, Ebbers now must face up to the ultimate meaning of “the buck stops here.”

Former CFO Scott Sullivan — who did his best imitation of Sammy “The Bull” Gravano by turning against his former boss — also should not be allowed to skate free simply because he has what Ebbers' lawyer mockingly called “a fragile family situation.”

Sullivan has reportedly promised to put up the proceeds from the sale of his home to pay restitution. At an estimated value of $10 million, the home is nothing more than a symbolic drop in a gigantic ocean of restitution — but at least it's a start.

Punishing both Ebbers, if found guilty by a jury, and Sullivan via some jail time and restitution on forced sales of their current assets would not only serve as an example for future executives, it would satisfy the very real need of victims desperate for some sense of justice. Just as important, it would provide a symbolic beginning to the final page of one of the more damaging chapters in telecom history.