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.)