Former Alabama Governor, Ex-CEO Convicted

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman listens to a reporter's question, outside the federal building as a jury continues deliberating the federal corruption case against him, former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, and two others, Wednesday June 28, 2006 in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Rob Carr) (Rob Carr - AP)

Siegelman appointed to the position a man who had previously worked for Allen. Prosecutors said that man, Mack Roberts, gave favorable treatment to projects that would benefit his former boss.

Prosecutors claimed Siegelman and his chief of staff, Paul Hamrick, received gifts, including a Honda motorcycle for the governor that he allegedly tried to conceal from investigators. Hamrick reportedly received $25,000 for a new luxury BMW automobile.

Hamrick and Roberts were acquitted on all charges.

Siegelman and Hamrick went on trial in 2004 in Tuscaloosa in a Medicaid fraud case, but those allegations were dropped after a federal judge ruled prosecutors had insufficient evidence to support a key conspiracy charge.

Emerging from the courthouse Thursday, Hamrick referred to the Tuscaloosa case and said, "I hope the harassment has stopped."

Thursday's verdict dealt a serious blow to any future political ambitions for Siegelman, a prominent Democrat who was elected secretary of state, attorney general and lieutenant governor before winning the state's top office in 1998.

The monthlong trial also came one year after Scrushy was acquitted of criminal charges in a massive accounting fraud scandal at his former company in Birmingham.

The jury in Montgomery returned the verdicts after 11 days of deliberations, convicting Siegelman and Scrushy of bribery, conspiracy and fraud. Siegelman was also convicted of obstruction of justice, but was acquitted on 25 other counts, including racketeering and extortion.

Scrushy remains a defendant in major civil cases involving allegations of a $2.7 billion accounting scam at the rehabilitation chain he once ran.