The sentencings, originally set for dates between July 25 and Aug. 4, were rescheduled for between Aug. 5 and Aug. 11, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

There was no immediate explanation for why Judge Barbara Jones moved the hearings, although delays are common in federal criminal sentencings.

The five former WorldCom employees are accountants Betty Vinson and Troy Normand, accounting director Buford Yates, controller David Myers and chief financial officer Scott Sullivan.

All of them pleaded guilty to fraud and cooperated with the government in its case against ex-CEO Bernard Ebbers, who was sentenced last week to 25 years in prison for overseeing the fraud.

Of the five, the toughest sentence is likely to go to Sullivan, who admitted at Ebbers' trial that he carried out the fraud - but said he did so on his boss' orders.

WorldCom collapsed in the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2002 as the accounting fraud came to light. It has since re-emerged under the name MCI.