There’s a new fashion among former Fortune 500 CEOs in Birmingham this week, as U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller has modified Richard Scrushy’s pre-sentencing release, as well as his wardrobe. In an order issued Monday, Fuller said that the former HealthSouth CEO is to wear a GPS tracking device — typically as an ankle bracelet — at all times, and that he may not leave the Middle and Northern Districts of Alabama without express permission from a court officer, presumably Fuller himself.
In February, Scrushy had permission to visit Disney World in Orlando, Fla., but after he took an unauthorized trip by yacht from West Palm Beach to Miami, prosecutors and probation officers accused him of testing the waters or even trying to flee the country. In a hearing last month, Scrushy said he would have taken his yacht, Chez Soiree, into open waters had weather permitted. Prosecutors argued that rough seas had prevented Scrushy from fleeing into international waters.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Coody accused Scrushy of being “coy” with his probation officers and reminded him that he was a convicted felon. However, Coody restricted Scrushy to wear the GPS tracking device only on trips outside of the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama. The new order requires him to wear the device at all times.
Last year, a jury in Montgomery convicted Scrushy of federal charges that he bribed former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. Fuller has set a sentencing date for both men on June 26.
— Kyle Whitmire
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