Former Governor Indicted

Don Siegelman was the governor of Alabama from 1998 until 2002 and in 2006 he will be a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. But first he must answer to some serious charges detailed in an indictment this week.

Siegelman pleaded not guilty to corruption charges for supposedly trading political favors for money and soliciting more than $1 million from people doing business with the state while he was governor.

Siegelman’s former chief of staff, Paul Hamrick, and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy were also named in the indictment, which claims that Scrushy made “two disguised payments” totaling $500,000 to Siegelman in exchange for Siegelman appointing him to the state’s Certificate of Need Review Board, which decides on hospital expansions.

Not surprisingly, Siegelman denies all the charges and claims they are politically motivated by some Republicans.