Richard Scrushy
Richard Marin Scrushy (born August 1952) is an American businessman and convicted felon. He is the founder of HealthSouth Corporation, a global healthcare company based in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2004, following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Scrushy was criminally charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Scrushy was charged with 36 of the original 85 counts but was acquitted of all charges on June 28, 2005, after a jury trial in Birmingham.
Richard Scrushy | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard Marin Scrushy August 1952 (age 71) |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman founder and former chairman and chief executive officer of HealthSouth Corporation, former chairman and chief executive officer of MedPartners, Inc. |
| Criminal status | Released |
| Spouse(s) | Debbie Cody (197?–197?) Karon Brooks (1978–1996) Leslie Anne Jones (1997–present) |
| Criminal charge | Birmingham trial: 36 charges of fraud, false corporate reportings, and making false statements Not Guilty Montgomery trial: bribery and mail fraud Guilty |
| Penalty | Birmingham trial: acquitted Montgomery trial: 82 months in federal prison, three years' probation, United States Dollars $267,000 in restitution, a fine of $150,000 and 500 hours of community service |
Four months after his acquittal in Birmingham, on October 28, 2005, Scrushy was indicted by a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, along with former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. The indictment included 30 counts of money laundering, extortion, obstruction of justice, racketeering, and bribery. Although the new charges were filed a month before the previous trial ended, Scrushy's attorneys accused prosecutors of filing charges as retaliation for Scrushy's acquittal. Scrushy pleaded not guilty to all charges, but was convicted along with Siegelman in June 2006.
On May 7, 2009, Scrushy was transferred from the Texas jail where he had been incarcerated and placed in the custody of the Shelby County Jail in Columbiana, Alabama. Scrushy was returned to Alabama in order to testify in a new civil trial in the Jefferson County Circuit Court brought against him by shareholders of HealthSouth who sought damages related to Scrushy's trial and conviction. On June 18, 2009, Judge Allwin E. Horn ruled that Scrushy was responsible for HealthSouth's fraud, and ordered him to pay $2.87 billion. On July 25, 2012, Scrushy was released from federal custody.