WorldCom sentencing wrap-up and reflections

Ellen Podgor in this post over at the White Collar Crime Prof Blog has a terrific summary and analysis of the federal sentences handed out to the various defendants in the WorldCom fraud case.  Ellen focuses on the profound impact that cooperating with the government has had on these sentencings (and this a trend which should continue with today's scheduled sentencing of key cooperator Scott Sullivan).  And Tom Kirkendall over at the blog Houston's Clear Thinkers shares a number of additional observations on these cooperation realities in this post.

UPDATE: As detailed in this AP report, Scott Sullivan "was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday by a judge who called him 'the architect' of the largest accounting fraud in U.S. history."  Peter Henning at White Collar Crime Prof Blog provides commentary on this outcome here.  This NY Times account of the sentence astutely notes that 5 years for Sullivan is "a fifth of what sentencing guidelines suggested and a striking example of the benefits of cooperating with government prosecutors."