ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York state parole board agreedTuesday to release former Tyco chief
executive Dennis Kozlowski onparole after more than eight years in prison for his conviction in a$134
million corporate fraud case.His tentative release date isJan. 17, though Kozlowski has been in the state’s
work-release programwith a clerical job and, for months, only reporting back twice weekly tominimum-security
Lincoln Correctional Facility in Harlem.Hefollows the security systems company’s former chief financial
officer,Mark Swartz, who was released by a parole board in October.Themen collectively paid $134 million in
restitution to Tyco InternationalLtd. and $105 million in fines to the state after their 2005convictions,
their attorneys said.They were sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25years in prison for grand larceny, conspiracy,
falsifying records andviolating business law. They were found guilty of giving themselvesillegal bonuses and
forgiving loans to themselves from 1999 to 2002."Mr.Kozlowski is grateful to the parole board for its
decision to grant himparole," attorney Alan Lewis said Tuesday. He declined further comment.Underthe
parole decision, Kozlowski, now 67, agreed not to communicate withTyco or Swartz without his parole
officer’s permission. The transcriptof his latest parole interview was not immediately available
Tuesday.Athis last parole hearing in April 2012, where release was denied,Kozlowski said he’d been
unofficially offered a plea bargain byprosecutors for two to six years in prison, which he’d turned down.
Hesaid that he’d rationalized at the time that he wasn’t guilty. His firsttrial ended with a hung
jury."Back when I was running Tyco, Iwas living in a CEO-type bubble. I had a strong sense of
entitlement atthat time," Kozlowski told the board.He said he had a sense ofgreed and "stole a lot
of money, and I did it the way you describedthrough bonuses. I’m very sorry I did that."The Manhattan
District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment Tuesday.Copyright 2013 The
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