Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy paid a journalist to write flattering articles about him during his trial on federal fraud charges. The writer, Audrey Lewis, admits she was paid $10,000 through a PR firm for a series of pieces on Scrushy that appeared in the Birmingham Times. Scrushy was acquitted of the fraud charges after a contentious trial in which his defense team was accused of using improper tactics to win the sympathies of a majority African-American jury. In the months since the trial ended, several community leaders have come forward to claim that they were paid to win local support. Lewis told The New York Times she went public after not receiving additional payments she was promised.
- see this article from The New York Times