Scrushy resentenced, judge shaves year off prison time

Richard Scrushy could soon breathe the free air again after a federal judge Wednesday resentenced the former HealthSouth chief executive, shortening his sentence by one year. With the shorter sentence, Scrushy could qualify to spend the remainder in a halfway house, beginning within two months, his lawyer said after the hearing.

Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy

Scrushy was set to be resentenced after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals dropped two counts against him and co-defendant Don Siegelman. Siegelman has been released on bond pending his appeal, but the court deemed Scrushy a flight risk after he and his family took an unauthorized trip to Miami on his yacht, Chez Soirée. At the time, prosecutors said Scrushy was testing the federal authorities in preparation for a flight attempt. Scrushy denied it.

In 2006, a federal jury found Scrushy and Siegelman guilty of bribery. Siegelman was found guilty of an additional count of obstruction of justice.

On Wednesday, United States District Judge Mark Fuller reduced Scrushy’s federal prison sentence from 82 to 70 months. Scrushy has already served 55 months of that sentence, and after the sentencing hearing Wednesday, his lawyers told reporters that Scrushy could be moved to a halfway house within the next 30 or 60 days.

Before the sentencing Wednesday, the Bureau of Prisons had recommended Scrushy be released to home confinement in December 2012.

On the witness stand, Scrushy apologized to Judge Fuller for having his defense team attack him. He choked up when telling the judge that his youngest son, now 7, no longer has much memory of Scrushy being at home. In prison, Scrushy has tutored other inmates and led Bible study, and he’s written music about his experience there, he said.

Calling Scrushy a “changed man,” Judge Fuller said he was a different person than the defendant who first appeared in his courtroom in six years ago.

While Scrushy has been in prison, civil verdicts have laid claim to his once-massive fortune. Plaintiffs have taken his mansions in Vestavia Hills and Lake Martin, and they have auctioned off the contents.

Scrushy’s wife, Leslie, has since moved to Houston to be near her husband who has served most of his sentence in Beaumont, Texas. If released to home confinement or a halfway house, Scrushy would likely serve the rest of his sentence in Texas.