Former governor doesn’t have to pay restitution

? A federal judge ruled Monday that former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman does not have to pay $181,325 in restitution to a state agency as part of his punishment in a government corruption case.

U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller said he ordered restitution based on money the state lost in a bogus warehouse deal when Siegelman was governor. But because Siegelman was acquitted by a jury on charges related to the warehouse deal, he did not have to pay the restitution, the judge said.

The jury convicted Siegelman and former HealthSouth Chief Executive Richard Scrushy last year on bribery and related charges in a scheme in which Siegelman was accused of appointing Scrushy to a hospital regulatory board in exchange for Scrushy arranging $500,000 in contributions to Siegelman’s campaign for a lottery.

Siegelman was acquitted on 27 other charges, including those related to the warehouse.

Fuller sentenced Siegelman last month to more than seven years in federal prison and Scrushy to almost seven years. Both are at the federal prison in Atlanta.