Former HealthSouth CFO Gets 3 Years

After much deliberation, the former chief financial officer for health care company HealthSouth Corp. appears to have received a sentence that will stick.

The former executive, Mike Martin, was sentenced to serve three years in prison for his role in a $2.7 billion fraud at the company -- though his original sentence had only required him to serve time on probation and house arrest. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals called the week-long prison term given to Martin at a second sentence "shockingly short," before ordering another sentencing.

Martin, 46, will begin his prison sentence Oct. 12 and will serve two years of supervised release after finishing his jail term.

The chief financial officer at HealthSouth from late 1997 to early 2000, Martin has already served out his second sentence -- seven days in jail and six months of home detention. He also has forfeited $2.3 million that prosecutors said he received from the fraud, and paid a $50,000 fine.

Martin, one of five chief financial officers implicated in the HealthSouth scandal, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy though he did cooperate with agents. He testified last year against former chief executive Richard Scrushy, who was acquitted on all charges, and testified again in May in the government corruption trial of Scrushy and former Gov. Don Siegelman, who were noth convicted on bribery charges.

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