55 Facts About Don Siegelman

Donald Eugene Siegelman is a former American politician, lawyer and convicted felon who was the 51st governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003.

Don Siegelman is the only person in Alabama's history to be elected to serve in all four of the top statewide elected offices: Secretary of State, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor and Governor.

In 2006 Don Siegelman was convicted on federal felony corruption charges and sentenced to seven years in federal prison.

On March 6,2009, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld key bribery, conspiracy and obstruction counts against Don Siegelman and refused his request for a new trial.

Don Siegelman was released from prison on February 8,2017, and was on supervised probation until it ended in June 2019.

Don Siegelman was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, the son of Catherine Andrea and Leslie Bouchet Don Siegelman, and raised in the Catholic faith.

Don Siegelman earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama, where he was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, in 1968.

Don Siegelman served in the Air National Guard for 19 months as a fuel handler and fuel truck driver, and was discharged for medical reasons in 1969.

Don Siegelman stated that he had received an honorable discharge as the result of several physical symptoms including high blood pressure, high pulse rate, headaches, and dizziness that were attributed to stress over family concerns including the illness of his father.

Don Siegelman earned a JD degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, in 1972.

Don Siegelman studied international law at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 1973.

Don Siegelman married Lori Allen, and they have two children, Dana and Joseph.

Don Siegelman's wife is Jewish and they reared their children in the Jewish faith.

Don Siegelman has studied martial arts for decades and holds a black belt in World Oyama Karate.

Don Siegelman served two terms as secretary of state, serving from 1979 to 1987.

Don Siegelman was elected as state attorney general in 1986, serving from 1987 to 1991.

Don Siegelman ran for governor in 1990 but lost in the Democratic primary runoff to Paul Hubbert, the executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association.

Don Siegelman was elected as lieutenant governor in 1994, serving from 1995 to 1999.

Don Siegelman was the first native Mobilian to be elected to the state's highest office.

In 1988 as state attorney general, Don Siegelman had addressed the Alabama Chemical Association and met with Monsanto lobbyists.

Don Siegelman worked to recruit other manufacturers, visiting several countries and securing commitments from Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai to build major assembly plants in Alabama.

Don Siegelman presided over eight executions, including that of Lynda Lyon Block, the first female executed in the state since 1957.

Don Siegelman oversaw the transition from electrocution as a sole method to lethal injection as the primary method.

Don Siegelman had campaigned for voter approval of a state lottery.

Don Siegelman supported a bill that placed the lottery on a free-standing referendum ballot in 1999.

Some advisers had suggested that Don Siegelman wait until the regular 2000 elections, when anti-gambling interests would command a smaller percentage of the electorate.

Observers believed that Don Siegelman did a decent job of managing the limited revenue produced by this system during a national economic downturn.

Don Siegelman launched the "Alabama Reading Initiative", an early education literacy program that was praised by both Democratic and Republican officials.

Don Siegelman ran to become the Democratic nominee for the Alabama gubernatorial election, 2006; however, he was defeated in the primary by Lt.

On May 27,2004, Don Siegelman was indicted by the federal government for fraud.

On October 26,2005, Siegelman was indicted on new charges of bribery and mail fraud in connection with Richard M Scrushy, founder and former CEO of HealthSouth.

Two former Don Siegelman aides were charged in the indictment as well.

Don Siegelman had been acquitted in 2005 of charges of securities fraud for his part in the HealthSouth Corporation fraud scandal which cost shareholders billions.

On June 29,2006, three weeks after Don Siegelman lost the primary, a federal jury found both Don Siegelman and Scrushy guilty on seven of the 33 felony counts in the indictment.

Don Siegelman was convicted on one count of bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud, four counts of honest services mail fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice.

Don Siegelman was acquitted on 25 counts, including the indictment's allegations of a widespread RICO conspiracy.

Don Siegelman said in his defense that Scrushy had been on the board of the state hospital regulatory board during several preceding Republican governorships.

Don Siegelman said that Scrushy's contribution toward the campaign for a state lottery fund for universal education was unrelated to his appointment.

Don Siegelman resided in a Houston, Texas halfway house until he was released on July 25,2012.

Don Siegelman told the Democratic National Committee that he believed Karl Rove should be held in contempt for refusing to testify before the House committee that investigated Don Siegelman's conviction.

On March 6,2009, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld key bribery, conspiracy and obstruction counts against Don Siegelman and refused his request for a new trial.

However, the Court struck down two of the seven charges on which Don Siegelman was convicted and ordered a new sentencing hearing.

Don Siegelman's sentence was reduced by 10 months, leaving him with 69 months.

Don Siegelman's husband was Alabama's top Republican operative and he had for years worked closely with Karl Rove, part of the George W Bush White House staff.

Don Siegelman said that Canary's "girls" and "Karl" would make sure the Justice Department pursued the Democrat so he was not a political threat in the future.

Don Siegelman clarified that she heard someone involved in a 2002 conference call refer to a meeting between Rove and Justice Department officials on the subject of Siegelman, and revealed that Rove directed her to "catch Siegelman cheating on his wife".

Raw Story reported in 2007 that Rove had advised Bill Canary on managing Republican Bob Riley's gubernatorial campaign against Don Siegelman, including during the election fraud controversy of 2002.

Don Siegelman claimed her car was forced off the road by a private investigator and wrecked but police investigations of the fire and the wreck found no evidence of foul play.

At Don Siegelman's sentencing, the prosecutors urged the judge to use these public statements by Don Siegelman as grounds for increasing his prison sentence.

On October 10,2007, the House Judiciary Committee released testimony in which Dana Jill Simpson alleged that Karl Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Don Siegelman with help from two of Alabama's US attorneys, and that Governor Bob Riley had named the judge who was eventually assigned to the case.

Don Siegelman defenders note that more than 100 federal charges were thrown out by three different judges.

Don Siegelman defenders argue that the sentence is unprecedented and the punishment excessive.

Don Siegelman said that representatives there said there were no transmission issues, and that WHNT had functioning transmitters at the time.

Don Siegelman was credited with time served, leaving 5 years, nine months remaining in his sentence.

Don Siegelman was released from prison on supervised probation on February 8,2017.