White-collar crimes will get harder time.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: Up front: news, trends & analysis

Under a new emergency plan approved by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, corporate criminals will receive longer prison sentences. The guidelines, which grew out of the flurry of frauds and corporate scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and other large corporations, increase the penalties faced by white-collar offenders in many federal cases by 25 percent or more, according to officials.

The new guidelines, which affect those sentenced after January 24, 2003, mandate that, in some cases, sentences will nearly double, such as when an officer of a public company defrauds more than 250 employees out of $1 million or more. The officer, if found guilty, would face at least 10 years in prison, instead of five years, according to U.S. District Judge Diana E. Murphy, who heads the commission. In addition, those who "substantially jeopardize" the health of a financial institution or publicly traded company and those who break securities laws while serving as an officer or director of a public firm will face increased prison time.

Those convicted of shredding large amounts of documents to obstruct justice will be sentenced to as many as three years in prison, instead of about 18 months, said a panel spokesman. Executives who sign off on corporate financial reports that they know do not comply with Securities and Exchange Commission rules could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

But Justice Department officials said the new...