Ebbers charges are dropped

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma's attorney general dropped criminal charges Thursday against former WorldCom Inc. chief executive Bernard Ebbers but plans to refile them next year.

The charges of violating state securities laws were dropped one day after a judge refused for a second time to delay a Dec. 1 preliminary hearing in the case.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson said Judge James Paddleford's ruling forced him to dismiss the charges and refile them later to keep an agreement with federal prosecutors in New York who are investigating the telecommunications company now called MCI.

He said he would likely wait until March to refile them. Prosecutors have until March 31 to refile the charges and still be within the statute of limitations.

Reid Weingarten, Ebbers' attorney, said the charges should have never been brought and were dropped because of a lack of evidence.

"We believe the claim that this dismissal is connected to the federal case in New York to be completely belied by the fact that the Oklahoma attorney general never consulted with the federal prosecutors in New York before bringing the charges," Weingarten said. "The truth is that the Oklahoma attorney general moved to dismiss this case because he couldn't meet even his minimal burden at a preliminary hearing."

Edmondson said he wanted to delay the preliminary hearing in order to avoid a conflict with the scheduled Feb. 1 trial in New York of Scott Sullivan, former chief financial officer of WorldCom.

"We have an agreement with United States Attorney James Comey that we will not call any witnesses in our case until those people have testified in Scott Sullivan's federal trial," Edmondson said. "I intend to honor that agreement. This dismissal is purely a strategic move, and I have every intention of refiling these charges early next year."

Ebbers and Sullivan are charged with 15 violations of state securities laws. They are among six ex-WorldCom employees charged in Oklahoma in an accounting fraud prosecutors say cost state pension funds $64 million.

MCI also is charged in the case. They were the first criminal charges brought in any jurisdiction against Ebbers and the company.

Edmondson had wanted Ebbers' hearing postponed until March 22. He didn't drop charges against any of the other defendants because these cases did not present immediate scheduling conflicts with the federal case, said his spokesman, Charlie Price.

"We have sufficient evidence to convict, or we would not have brought the case," Edmondson said. "We had hoped our court would grant a continuance, but it did not. I respect the judge's decision, but that decision leaves us with two choices: break our agreement with the U.S. attorney or dismiss and refile. We are taking this course in the best interest of justice."

"We knew of the federal case when we filed our charges, but had no indication that the scheduling of pretrial hearings would come down the way it did," Edmondson said.

Four other former company officials charged in the Oklahoma case have pleaded guilty to federal charges and are set to testify in the federal case against Sullivan.

Their testimony also is needed in Oklahoma, Edmondson said, along with other witnesses scheduled by federal prosecutors.

Others charged in the Oklahoma case are ex-WorldCom employees Buford Yates, David Myers, Betty Vinson and Troy Normand.

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