WorldCom's Sullivan Pleads Innocent

Scott Sullivan, the former WorldCom chief financial officer charged with masterminding the fallen telecom's multibillion-dollar financial fraud, pleaded innocent to multiple federal charges Wednesday.

Former WorldCom accounting director Bedford Yates also pleaded innocent Wednesday at an arraignment in New York. The charges included securities fraud, conspiracy and filing false statements.

A prosecutor at the arraignment said the government expects to bring more charges in the scandal, which led to WorldCom filing bankruptcy in June.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 9. Sullivan had been discussing a settlement with the U.S. Attorney but reportedly was unwilling to agree to a 10-year jail term. If convicted by a jury on the counts he currently faces, he could be sentenced to 25 years in jail.

Prosecutors are still trying to negotiate a plea with WorldCom's former controller, David Myers. Sullivan is alleged to have directed Myers and Yates in a plot to hide several billion dollars of WorldCom expenses on the company's balance sheet.

Sullivan, who is 40 and lives in Boca Raton, Fla., remains free on a $10 million personal recognizance bond that was set when he was first arrested last month. WorldCom fired Sullivan in June.