ALABAMA BRIBERY CASE Ex-governor and others are indicted

Bribery got one man appointed to a key hospital board, the charge alleges.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- A federal grand jury has indicted former Gov. Don Siegelman, former hospital executive Richard Scrushy and two others in a "widespread racketeering conspiracy" alleging bribery and extortion, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Siegelman and former Chief of Staff Paul Hamrick were charged with racketeering during Siegelman's term from 1999 to 2003.
The indictment, in part, alleges that Scrushy, former chief of the HealthSouth medical-services company, made disguised payments totaling $500,000 to Siegelman to get appointed to a key hospital regulatory board.
Former state Transportation Director Gary Mack Roberts was charged with fraud for his alleged role in influencing the agency on Siegelman's behalf.
Announcement
The announcement of the indictment was made simultaneously in Montgomery and Washington.
Siegelman has called the long-running grand jury investigation a political witch hunt by Republican prosecutors trying to derail his Democratic campaign for a second term.
He planned to issue a statement Wednesday evening.
Prosecutors noted that three other people with ties to the Siegelman administration have pleaded guilty to corruption in the alleged scheme -- Nick Bailey, a former executive secretary and Cabinet head; Lanny Young, a former lobbyist and landfill developer; and Curtis Kirsch, a Montgomery architect who did work for the state during the Siegelman administration.
The allegations
The indictment returned Wednesday alleged that Siegelman and Hamrick took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from Young to aid Young's business interests, including awarding contracts to companies controlled by Young.
Young, Bailey and Kirsch had been scheduled for sentencing Oct 14 in Montgomery, but that hearing was postponed. No new date has been set.
As part of their plea-bargain agreements, the three men's sentences will be determined in part by their cooperation with federal authorities.
'Disguised payments'
The indictment claims Scrushy made "two disguised payments" totaling $500,000 to Siegleman in exchange for Siegelman's appointing him to the state's Certificate of Need Review Board, which decides on hospital expansions.
Scrushy was charged with bribery and fraud in an indictment filed May 17 but kept under seal, prosecutors said.
Earlier this year, Scrushy was acquitted in a criminal case stemming from a massive accounting fraud at the Birmingham-based HealthSouth chain.