Former Wal-Mart exec sentenced [View All]

Full story: http://money.excite.com/ht/nw/bus/20060811/hle_bus-n11346610.html



Former Wal-Mart exec sentenced

Friday August 11, 3:27 PM EDT

FORT SMITH, Arkansas (Reuters) - Tom Coughlin, the former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) vice chairman who admitted to stealing thousands of dollars from the company, was sentenced on Friday to 27 months of home confinement.

Coughlin, who joined Wal-Mart in 1978 and worked closely with legendary founder Sam Walton, had faced up to 28 years in prison and $1.35 million in fines after he pleaded guilty in January to wire fraud and tax evasion.

"There is no excuse for my conduct," Coughlin said at the hearing in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith, Arkansas. "I feel compelled to apologize to my extended Wal-Mart family."

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His doctor, Joel Carver, had testified earlier on Friday that the 57-year-old was too "fragile" for prison, suffering from diabetes, cardiac disease, sleep apnea, arterial blockage, and other ailments. Coughlin was treated for arterial blockage in 2003 after falling ill while working out in a gym.