[JURIST] A former vice chair of Wal-Mart [corporate website; JURIST news archive] was sentenced on Friday to 27 months of house arrest after he pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in January to fraud and tax charges for stealing money, merchandise and gift cards from the store and filing a false tax report. Tom Coughlin was referred to federal prosecutors [JURIST report] by Wal-Mart lawyers after they uncovered $500,000 in losses due to store vouchers that Coughlin used to purchase items and funds he embezzled to pay for the care of his hunting dogs, an upgrade to his truck, and to lease a private hunting area.

Coughlin's doctor testified during sentencing hearings that various health conditions would prevent Coughlin from being safely incarcerated in prison. Bloomberg has more.