Dowie Defiant

Doug Dowie, the former Fleishman-Hillard executive who is about to begin serving prison time for conspiracy and fraud, continues to maintain his innocence. Dowie was convicted last May in a scheme to overbill the city of Los Angeles hundreds of thousands of dollars for public relations services. In a written statement, Dowie blames the scandal and trial on irresponsible journalists, over-zealous prosecutors, and his former employer. "In the Marine Corps, I learned we never left our dead on the battlefield," he writes. "At Fleishman Hillard, they shot their wounded." Not all the news for Dowie is bad, however. While on trial, he wrote a screenplay that has been optioned by Hollywood.