Tom Shine, the former president of Logo Athletic and currently SVP of Sports and Entertainment Marketing worldwide for Reebok International Ltd., was sentenced on Thursday in the ongoing fraud probe surrounding the collapse of Just for Feet.

Shine was sentenced by United States District Judge Robert B. Propst to 6 months' home detention, 3 years' probation, and a $10,000 fine. He was charged in a Criminal Information with conspiracy to submit false documents to Just For Feet auditors and to falsify Just For Feet books and records. Shine is the last of the vendor executives that pleaded guilty in the investigation of fraud at the retailer.

Shine’s attorney said in an Indianapolis Business Journal article that they had hoped for probation in the case. The attorney had released a statement after Shine entered his guilty plea in the case.

“Tom Shine made an error in judgment when, at a customer’s persistent urging, he signed a single, inaccurate audit confirmation-without any expectation of personal gain and without fully appreciating the implications of his act,” he said in the statement released in February.

Mr. Shine could have received up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine in the action. To date, only one individual has received jail time in the case. Tim McCool, an executive at adidas America, was the first to be sentenced and received four months in jail and another four months in home detention. Two others have only received the home detention. All have received fines.

Denise Kaigler, Reebok’s VP of Global Communications, told the IBJ that the “guilty plea has in no way affected Shine’s position or level of responsibility at Reebok” and she described the it as “an isolated incident that occurred years before he worked for Reebok”.

The Journal noted that Kaigler was unable to discuss Shine’s future with the company, saying she never comments on “hypothetical speculation”.

Next up are the former retailer’s executives that have also pleaded guilty in the case. Former JFF stores president Adam Gilburne is now slated to be sentenced on July 21, while Don Ruttenberg, former EVP of JFF and son of founder Harold Ruttenberg, and Steven Davis, former VP of Marketing, are scheduled to be sentenced on July 27, 2004.


>>> You have to wonder if this is what the U.S. Attorney had in mind. Three guys with now-tainted records sitting at home on extended vacations and a father of five sitting in jail. Perhaps this wasn’t the ticket to the Governor’s mansion after all. I guess we can’t all be Eliot Spitzer…