Dennis Kozlowski Parole: Ex-Tyco CEO Denied

Dennis Kozlowski, the former Tyco (TYC) CEO who was imprisoned back in 2005 after it was determined that he had aided in the theft of hundreds of millions of Tyco’s dollars, was denied parole today (April 5, 2012) by the New York State Department of Corrections.

Perhaps Kozlowski can continue his in-prison philanthropy by inspiring more convicted criminals to pursue their high school diploma, as he did with rapper Ja Rule while the two were both serving time at the same correctional facility. Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, was locked behind bars after being sentenced on weapons and tax evasion charges.

Regardless of his clean disciplinary record and what the three-member parole board called “progress and achievement,” Kozlowski was denied parole after his hearing which was held on Wednesday. He was informed the following day of the board’s decision to deny his parole. The decision read:

“Your discretionary release, at this time [would not be] compatible with the welfare of society at large, and would tend to deprecate the seriousness [of the offenses committed] and undermine respect for the law.”

After a stay at New York’s Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, Kozlowski was transferred to a minimum security jail in Harlem, the Lincoln Correctional Facility which houses only male criminals.

The former CEO was sentenced in 2005 to 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from his former employer, manufacturing conglomerate Tyco, and will not eligible for parole again until late in 2013.

What do you think of the parole board’s decision to deny the parole of Dennis Kozlowski?