A Stiff Term for the Wizard

The sobs that shook Michael Milken in Manhattan federal court last week punctuated the most dizzying fall from power in modern Wall Street history. They came as federal Judge Kimba Wood sentenced the financial wizard, whose junk bonds fueled the epic 1980s takeover wars, to 10 years in prison. Said the tearful felon: "What I did violated not just the law but all of my principles and values, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. I am truly sorry."

The sentence was by far the stiffest jail term in a five-year federal crackdown on securities fraud that...