Former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps, center, and his attorney John Colette, right, leave the federal courthouse after an arraignment hearing in Jackson Thursday. Epps, who resigned abruptly this week, has been charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a Rankin County businessman connected to several private prison companies. Thursday afternoon, Gov. Phil Bryant announced all contracts involving firms mentioned in the Epps indictment will be rebid.
The Associated Press/Joe Ellis
Former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps, center, and his attorney John Colette, right, leave the federal courthouse after an arraignment hearing in Jackson Thursday. Epps, who resigned abruptly this week, has been charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a Rankin County businessman connected to several private prison companies. Thursday afternoon, Gov. Phil Bryant announced all contracts involving firms mentioned in the Epps indictment will be rebid. The Associated Press/Joe Ellis
JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said Thursday afternoon the state will rebid contracts with all firms mentioned in an indictment of former Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps.
Spokesman Knox Graham said Thursday that Bryant instructed interim Corrections Commissioner Richard McCarty to stop negotiations with Utah-based Management and Training Corp. over renewing a $60-million-a-year contract to manage four private prisons with 4,000-plus inmates.
Two of MTC’s four prisons have been sued for inmate mistreatment.
Graham says Bryant was unaware of alleged misconduct when he reappointed Epps in 2012, though the FBI had been investigating Epps since 2010.
Bryant received a $1,000 campaign contribution from Brandon businessman Cecil McCrory, alleged to have provided more than $1 million in bribes to Epps. Graham says Bryant will donate the money to the Salvation Army.
An inmate serving seven years for a series of burglaries and identity theft walked away from the McComb facility where he was being held and remains at large, authorities said.
Richard Glen Maples, 22, reportedly left the Pike County Community Work Center around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night wearing his state-issued MDOC green and white striped pants and white MDOC shirt. His shirt has “MDOC Convict” printed on the back.
Prison officials are investigating how Maples escaped from facility and whether or not he had assistance. […]
Officials with the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) said two inmates from the Forrest County Community Worker Center went missing Saturday evening about 5 p.m.
MDOC Spokesperson Tara Booth said 26-year-old David Bass and 22-year-old James Robert Martin walked off a work detail at the Forrest County facility in Hattiesburg and were last seen wearing MDOC state-issued green and white striped pants and white MDOC shirts with “MDOC Convict” printed on the back. […]
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Sentencing has been indefinitely delayed for a Carthage man who pleaded guilty to bribing former Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps. Court records show U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate on Monday put […]
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