NEW YORK -- A six-month vacation, a multimillion-dollar contract settlement and the prospect of a new, nationally syndicated gig. Does that qualify as penance for acid-tongued Don Imus, fired last spring amid a national furor sparked by his racist on-air remark?

Hardly, say some of his critics. The idea of the broadcasting icon returning to the airwaves just months after his public meltdown is nearly as insulting as his crude and misogynist comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, the anti-Imus contingent maintains.

But Imus' return appears a fait accompli, with recent reports suggesting he could resume broadcasting by December -- most likely on New York-based WABC-AM, owned by Citadel Broadcasting.

"He didn't break the law," Citadel Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman told The New York Times last week, without commenting on whether Imus had been signed. "He's more than paid the price for what he did."

Imus had signed a $40 million, five-year deal with CBS Radio just before he was fired in April and collected a lucrative settlement after threatening a breach-of-contract lawsuit over his firing.

He then spent much of his time at the New Mexico ranch where he hosts dying children, one of his philanthropic interests.

First Published: October 12, 2007, 4:00 a.m.