WorldCom Investors Still Seeking Compensation

"I invested some money that I felt like I could afford to do something with, so it's not my retirement money or a life-changing thing," he said. "I put faith in stockbrokers and WorldCom and Bernie Ebbers, and they all let me down."

Still, losing $27,000 stung, and Mosley said he'd be wary of making large investments in the future. He agreed it was tough to take joy in Ebbers' fate, preferring instead to compliment the legal system.

"I'm not going to be bitter and vengeful," he said. "I won't get any money back, but I get the satisfaction of knowing the judicial system did its job. That shows that no matter how much money he's got or who he is, he's still not above the law."

Shareholders Sue for Compensation

Many shareholders are still hoping for some form of monetary compensation. A massive class-action suit filed by several large state pension and retirement funds along with several hundred thousand individual investors has already recouped more than $6 billion in settlements from banks that were involved in the sales or underwriting of bonds issued by WorldCom.

The latest settlement came Wednesday, the day after the Ebbers' verdict, when JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay $2 billion. JPMorgan officials suggested the conviction was a factor.

"Given recent developments, we made a decision to settle rather than risk the uncertainty of a trial," Chase Chairman and CEO William B. Hairston Jr. said in a statement.

Jury selection for a trial in the class-action suit was scheduled to begin Monday, but a spokesman for New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, the trustee for the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the lead plaintiff in the case, said it was unclear if the JPMorgan settlement would delay the trial.

In addition to the JPMorgan agreement, the plaintiffs have already reached settlements with all of the major banks named in the suit, including Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., for more than $4 billion. The suit still seeks money from 11 former WorldCom directors and several others, and prosecutors hoped the Ebbers verdict will pressure more parties to settle.