HealthSouth Boss Gets 7 Years for Bribery

Same stretch for Alabama governor
By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 29, 2007 4:15 AM CDT
HealthSouth Boss Gets 7 Years for Bribery
Former Alabama first lady Lori Siegelman leaves the federal courthouse in Montgomery, Ala., after her husband was sentenced.   (Associated Press)

Richard Scrushy, the former CEO of HealthSouth, was sentenced to almost 7 years in prison for giving the governor of Alabama $500,000 in exchange for a seat on the state hospital regulatory board, the Wall Street Journal reports. Former governor Don Siegelman was sentenced to over 7 years, and both men must pay restitution.

Siegelman and Scrushy, who both plan to appeal, claim the donations were simply campaign contributions with no strings attached. Scrushy had been tried for a $2.7 billion accounting fraud at the company in 2005; when he was acquitted, prosecutors hit him with bribery charges. (More Richard M. Scrushy stories.)

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