Siegelman Scrushy corruption case
The Siegelman Scrushy corruption case began with a federal indictment on racketeering, bribery and extortion charges brought on October 26, 2005 against Governor Don Siegelman and HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, along with Siegelman's former chief of staff Paul Hamrick and Alabama Department of Transportation director Mack Roberts.
The indictment alleged that bribes were exchanged for official favors from Siegelman during his term as Governor. Additional charges of mail fraud and conspiracy were added during a December 12 grand jury, alleging that Siegelman conspired with Scrushy to give HealthSouth undue influence on the state's hospital regulatory board.
United States Attorney Leura Garrett Canary recused herself from the case because her husband, Bill Canary, employed by the Business Council of Alabama, managed Bob Riley's 2002 campaign. The case went to trial in the courtroom of Mark Fuller in early May 2006 and concluded in late June. The jury took 11 days to reach decisions on 62 counts. Siegelman and Scrushy both received multiple convictions while Roberts and Hamrick were exonerated. Lawyers for both guilty parties promised to appeal the verdict.
On June 28, 2007 Siegelman was sentenced to 88 months imprisonment followed by 36 months on probation. He was also fined $50,000 and ordered to pay $181,325 in restitution and to perform 500 hours of community service. He was initially incarcerated in a federal prison in Atlanta. On July 11, 2007, he was transferred to Oakdale Correctional Complex, a low security prison in central Louisiana.
After serving almost nine months in prison, Siegelman was released on appeal on March 27, 2008 by U.S. Judges Susan H. Black and Stanley Marcus of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The judges stated that Seigelman met the requirements of an appeal bond. The House Judiciary Committee began investigating allegations that partisans in the Justice Department pursued cases against Democrats for political reasons, and Siegelman's was one of several cases under scrutiny. Before his release, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Representative John Conyers of Michigan asked the Justice Department to transport Siegelman from prison to Capitol Hill for a hearing later that spring.
Siegelman remained imprisoned until given a conditional release into supervised probation in February 2017.