Judge refuses to throw out fraud convictions of Siegelman, Scrushy News
Judge refuses to throw out fraud convictions of Siegelman, Scrushy

[JURIST] A federal judge Monday denied motions by former Alabama governor Don Siegelman [official profile] and former HealthSouth [corporate website] CEO Richard Scrushy [JURIST news archive] to overturn their corruption convictions. US District Judge Mark Fuller [official profile] ruled there was "substantial evidence" to back jury verdicts against them.

In June 2006, Siegelman was convicted [JURIST report] on 10 counts, including bribery, conspiracy, and mail fraud. Scrushy was found guilty of fraud and both were also convicted in connection with a $500,000 payment from Scrushy for Siegelman's 1999 campaign debts in exchange for a seat on a state-operated review board that regulates hospitals. Siegelman and Scrushy face up to 30 years in prison. In a separate action, Scrushy was acquitted in 2005 [JURIST report] on charges of wire and mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a scheme to overstate earnings and inflate HealthSouth's stock price between 1996 and 2002. AP has more.