HARRISBURG, D.C., Feb. 22 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Harrisburg, Pa., denied Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD) Corp.'s former Vice Chairman Franklin C. Brown a chance at a new trial Friday.

Brown, 79, sought a new trial claiming evidence in his 2003 trial included audiotapes that had been tampered with, The Patriot-News, a Harrisburg newspaper, reported.

Brown and five other former Rite Aid executives were convicted of accounting fraud stemming from irregularities on the company's books in the 1990s.

Brown, who was convicted in 2003, is serving a 10-year prison sentence.

U.S. Middle District Judge Sylvia H. Rambo's decision to deny the new trial was issued in a 61-page opinion, The Patriot-News said.