Wal-Mart’s Coughlin Resentenced, Still No Prison Term

Former Wal-Mart COO Tom Coughlin was sentenced on Friday to 27 months home confinement, 60 months probation and 1500 hours of community service by US District Judge Robert Dawson in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The addition of the community service hours was the only change from the sentence originally handed down by Judge Dawson in 2006. Coughlin had pleaded guilty in January 2006 to wire fraud and tax evasion in connection with the theft of gift cards and equipment from Wal-Mart, resulting in a loss of about $500,000. Prosecutors objected to the absence of prison time and appealed the sentence to the Eighth US Circuit Court of Appeals. Last year the Eighth Court agreed and sent the case back for resentencing, but Judge Dawson again declined to send Coughlin to prison. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to appeal the sentence again. The International Herald Tribune/AP story is here.