Former Mississippi prison chief pleads guilty in private-prisons bribe case
Former Mississippi corrections commissioner Christopher Epps pleaded guilty on Wednesday in a case alleging he accepted bribes to steer private-prison contracts to a lawmaker-turned-businessman.
Epps and the businessman, Cecil McCrory, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy, report the New York Times, the Clarion-Ledger and Reuters. Epps also pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return.
McCrory was accused of funneling more than $1 million to Epps, some of it in the form of mortgage payments, the Times says. In exchange, the indictment alleged, Epps steered contracts to companies owned by McCrory, or companies for which he acted as a consultant.
A prior story by the New York Times reported that Epps wore a Rolex to a previous court appearance when he pleaded not guilty. The story noted a 2012 finding by a federal judge that one private prison facility was “a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts and conditions.”
Sentencing is set for June.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Rats are so plentiful at Mississippi prison that inmates put them on leashes, suit says”
