Siegelman asks Dems to send letters to judge

MUSCLE SHOALS – With just weeks before his sentencing for bribery, fraud and obstruction of justice charges, Alabama’s former governor Don Siegelman asked his fellow Democrats to write positive letters to his sentencing judge.

“We need to generate letters to the judge and probation officer to paint a different picture,” Siegelman told his audience of around 70 people who gave him two standing ovations at the United Steelworkers Local 200.

The governor sought support from fellow Democrats through positive letters about how his administration had affected their lives, such as building schools, bridges and bringing the state jobs.

The 51st governor of Alabama, however, may still be best known for his legal woes.

The 2004 indictment for his alleged involvement in a bid-rigging scheme was thrown out of court.

Other charges, however, stuck.

In June, a federal jury found Siegelman, along with former HealthSouth Chief Executive Officer Richard Scrushy, guilty of a bribery scheme.

Siegelman was accused of trading government favors for campaign donations. The accusations were from the time Siegelman was governor from 1999 to 2003 and lieutenant governor from 1995 to 1999.

Scrushy, was accused of arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s campaign for a state lottery in exchange for a seat on a state hospital regulatory board.

Siegelman was accused of trading government favors for campaign donations. The accusations were from the time Siegelman was governor from 1999 to 2003 and lieutenant governor from 1995 to 1999.

Scrushy was accused of arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s campaign for a state lottery in exchange for a seat on a state hospital regulatory board.

Siegelman was convicted in federal court on one count of bribery, one count of mail fraud conspiracy, four counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice.

The most serious of the charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

He expects to appeal his case in the 11th Court of Appeals in Montgomery. He will be sentenced sometime in February.

“You have lots of friends in this area,” said Lance Hyche, president of the Shoals Democrat Club, which hosted the speaker. “Life was better under your administration in this state.”

Siegelman defended his administration that he said built 800 bridges, 1,000 schools and brought five car plants to Alabama.

“I love my new classroom, thank you,” said Janice Curtis, a special education teacher at Rogers High School in Florence. Under Siegelman, schools statewide removed portable classrooms, which Curtis called cold and dangerous. “He got a lot of us out of those trailers.”

Now, her new specially designed classroom includes a kitchen, laundry and a big class area.

Still upset about his controversial 2002 defeat, Siegelman criticized election reform efforts throughout the state and the 2003 revision that elections within one-half of 1 percent are automatically recounted.

“They missed the point,” he said. He said electronic votes are susceptible to manipulation and that hand-counted ballots were still the gold standard.

“I think we won that election,” was met with applause.

The former governor called Republican Gov. Bob Riley, a “phony on the pony,” but later corrected himself. “I’m not here to be critical of Bob Riley.”

After the trial, defense attorneys discovered seven e-mail messages between two jurors who Siegelman said were bent on a guilty verdict.

“I regret that I was unable to stay in the arena for you,” he told supporters. “I won’t be in the political arena for a while, if at all.”

Staff Writer Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@timesdaily.com.