MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Shipping giant FedEx has pulled out of a business conference after former Arkansas death row inmate Damien Echols was asked to speak. FedEx was a co-sponsor of Everywhereelse.co: The Startup Conference, which is scheduled for Sunday through Tuesday at the Cook Convention Center. FedEx withdrew sponsorship this week after conference organizers announced Echols would take part in a talk Monday about how the world has changed since he was sent to prison. Echols is one of three men who were convicted in the killing of three Cub Scouts in a West Memphis, Ark., woods in 1993. FedEx spokeswoman Shea Leordeanu told The Commercial Appeal the subject of Echols' talk didn't match the company's understanding of what the conference was about. "I think any corporation, when you're going to be involved in an event, you want to make sure it matches your brand," Leordeanu said. Conference coordinator Kyle Sandler said he was told of FedEx's decision Wednesday morning. "I was told the FedEx name and the FedEx brand could not be associated with a guest so polarizing within the city of Memphis," Sandler said. Echols and co-defendants Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin were freed from prison in August 2011. With a possible retrial looming, prosecutors allowed the three to enter guilty pleas under a legal provision that allowed them to maintain their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict them. ___ Information from: The Commercial Appeal, http://www.commercialappeal.com
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