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Adams County Correctional Facility
Natchez, Mississippi
CCA
United States of America v. Juan Lopez-Fuentes:
August 8, 2012, 5 pages. Damning FBI statement regarding CCA's Adams County
Correctional Facility where one of its guards was killed during a riot.
Private Prison, Public Problem: June 6,
2012, Jackson Free Press. Excellent piece on how this prison was built
and CCA's operations.
Jul
24, 2021 clarionledger.com
Miss.
ICE detention center violates COVID-19 protocols, medical unit needs
improvement
An
investigation by the U.S. Office of Inspector General at a Natchez federal
detention center for immigrants found violations of standards that threatened
the health, safety and rights of detainees. One
detainee died while in custody at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
facility, according to a July 14 report about the investigation's findings.
Office of Inspector General investigators assigned to the Department of
Homeland Security discovered the violations during unannounced remote
inspections of Adams County Correctional Facility from January to February
2021. The detainee who died requested medical attention for pain in his chest
and arms on Dec. 17, 2020. He was taken to the medical unit where he was
examined, but later released. While waiting to return to his cell, the man
collapsed. Medical staff and paramedics were unable to resuscitate him and he was pronounced dead. ICE regulation violations
included a lack of urgent medical attention, detainees not following COVID-19
safety measures and detention center staff failing to provide timely
responses to detainee grievances. Recommendations by the Office of Inspector
General for improvements to the facility included, among other things,
developing emergency care guidelines, documenting patient treatment during
sick call encounters, meeting ICE's COVID-19 guidelines and establishing a
system to ensure detainee requests are met in a timely manner. The report
said the facility needed to improve its COVID-19 response through better
enforcement of mask wearing and practicing social distancing. The report says
128 detainees tested positive for the coronavirus. To prevent the spread of
the virus, in 2020 the facility restricted or suspended certain activities
like in-person social visitation and library services, among other things. As
of March 2021, the restrictions remained in place, the report stated. 'A
stain on our country': ICE efforts to stop COVID-19 spread fail to protect
immigrant detainees from virus. The facility provides each detainee with two
reusable cloth masks and mandates they must be worn, but surveillance footage
from December 2020 to January 2021 revealed some detainees did not wear masks
or practice social distancing while in a group. In May, several immigrants rights groups from
Mississippi and Louisiana filed a civil rights and liberties complaint
against the Adams County Detention Center, claiming the facility was
endangering detainees' lives by ignoring COVID-19 safety protocols. In a
letter, the organizations claimed the New Orleans ICE Field Office violated
COVID-19 safety policies issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, including that detainees were grouped in close quarters and not
given access to necessities like soap. Recommendations for improvement: The
report provided seven recommendations for staff at the ICE facility.
Those
in the first five bullets have been resolved by ICE and approved by
investigators. The detention facility is in the process of resolving the last
two:
1) Ensure the Adams medical unit develops emergency care guidelines,
documents patient treatment during sick call encounters, and documents
interpretation and medical care
provided based on laboratory testing results.
2)
Ensure Adams meets ICE's COVID-19 requirements for wearing masks and social
distancing.
3)
Ensure Adams reviews classification determinations, documents detainee
special 4) vulnerabilities and documents language used to conduct detainee
interviews.
4)
Ensure Adams establishes a grievance tracking system to ensure timely responses
to grievances.
5)
Ensure Adams provides detainees in segregation access to laundry, legal
materials, mail, required recreation time outside their cells, the commissary
(for those in administrative segregation), ICE request forms and secure
drop-boxes.
6)
Establish a system to ensure timely ICE responses to requests.
7)
Update ICE's contract with Adams to better identify requirements for detainee
housing.
May
22, 2019 clarionledger.com
Mississippi: Using
prisons as economic development
The
end of a federal prison contract at the Adams County Correctional Center,
with its 389 employees and an annual payroll of $16.4 million, will be a blow
to the local economy, officials say.
The prison near Natchez also contributes $4.7 million annually in
local taxes. The federal Bureau of
Prisons on May 1 opted not to renew the contract for Nashville-based CoreCivic, once known as Corrections Corp. of
America. BOP's 10-year contract with CoreCivic ends July 31. Florida-based GEO Group won the
new contract for the next 10 years to supply 5,000 federal beds for mostly
detained undocumented immigrants. "It has a huge impact on the economy
in Adams County," Adams County Economic Development Director Chandler
Russ said of the prison. Russ said there is a concerted effort among CoreCivic, county officials and Mississippi's
congressional delegation to try to keep the prison from closing completely
after the federal detainees are removed. Russ said they hope to finding another contract for the $130 million prison.
"It's in the best interest of everyone to get it back up running,"
he said. "We remain confident it will happen." CoreCivics
spokeswoman Amanda Gilchrist said the company will continue to offer Adams
County Correctional Center as a potential solution to meet the needs of other
government partners. Meanwhile CoreCivic will work with the Bureau of Prisons to ensure
a safe and seamless transfer of inmates out of Adams County Correctional
Center, Gilchrist said. In 2012, there was a riot at the prison, in which a
guard was killed and 20 people injured, but Russ said the prison in recent
years has met all federal certifications and is a state-of-the art facility.
Gilchrist said CoreCivic will assist employees
impacted by the closure, and will provide them
opportunities for transfer to other CoreCivic
facilities. However, CoreCivic has only one other
facility in Mississippi — the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in
Tutwiler in the Mississippi Delta. It is roughly 200 miles from the Adams
County prison.
May 1, 2019 globenewswire.com
Federal Bureau of Prisons Elects Not to Renew Contract at the Adams County
Correctional Center
NASHVILLE,
Tenn., May 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CoreCivic,
Inc. (NYSE: CXW) (the “Company") announced today that the Federal
Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") elected not to renew its contract at CoreCivic's owned and operated 2,232-bed Adams County
Correctional Center. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the facility
generated approximately $60.9 million in revenue from the BOP. At this time,
the BOP has not determined when it will begin transferring inmates out of the
facility, but the current contract expires on July 31, 2019. CoreCivic will begin marketing the facility to other
potential government partners as it works with the BOP to develop their
transition plan. The Company does not expect this non-renewal to have a
material impact on the full year 2019 financial guidance released on February
19, 2019.
Jan
13, 2017 wtok.com
Last organizer of Natchez prison riot gets 10-year sentence
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The remaining organizer of a 2012 prison riot at
the Adams County Correctional Facility that killed a Mississippi prison guard
has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Senior U.S. District Judge
David Bramlette sentenced Juan Geraldo Arredondo
Tuesday to the maximum prison term after Arredondo pleaded guilty in 2015 to
one count of rioting. Like other defendants, Arredondo was ordered to pay
$1.3 million in restitution. That's the total amount of damage caused to the
private prison. It's owned by CoreCivic, formerly
Corrections Corp. of America. Inmates rioted in protest of what they said
were poor conditions. Most inmates were Mexicans convicted of illegally
entering the country. Guard Catlin Carithers was
killed and 20 people were injured in the riot on May 20, 2012. At least 23
people have been convicted in the case.
Jan 3, 2017 huffingtonpost.com
Report Criticizes Private Mississippi Prison After Deadly Riot
A federal prison in Natchez, Mississippi, run by the largest private operator
of correctional facilities drew a scathing audit report from the Inspector
General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in mid-December, just weeks before
a new administration likely to be more favorably disposed toward private
prisons takes office. Since April 2009, DOJ’s Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
has contracted with the Nashville-based company CoreCivic,
Inc. — which changed its name from Corrections Corporation of America in
October — to run the low-security Adams County Correctional Center. It houses
up to 2,567 male, noncitizen — primarily Mexican — inmates. The agency signed
two-year renewals twice, as recently as 2015, and another renewal option
arises in July 2017. Since October 2009, DOJ has paid $468 million for the
private facility, making it the agency’s third-largest contract during that
time. Despite the sizable outlay, all did not run smoothly. In May 2012,
during an inmate riot, a young guard was beaten to death, and 20 prison staff
and inmates injured. After the riot, BOP identified understaffing,
inexperience, and communication problems as contributing factors. An FBI
agent characterized the riot as inmates’ protest against bad food, inadequate
medical care and allegedly abusive staff. The DOJ inspector general’s
just-released audit showed, even four years later, the Natchez prison has not
fixed many of its earlier-identified problems. The audit’s authors voiced
deep concern the prison was still “plagued by the same significant
deficiencies.” In half the months following the riot, the audit found, prison
staffing levels were even lower than at the time of the riot. The audit
calculated staffing levels differently from the company’s method, saying it
didn’t reflect actual hours worked. The DOJ audit also said company staffing
levels frequently fell below the minimums set by BOP regulations. The audit
further claimed medical staffing levels were similarly overstated, with just
one doctor and dentist available much of the time, in violation of standards
in BOP’s contract. One press account drawing on prison-monitoring documents
claimed at least seven inmates at the Natchez prison likely died from
inadequate medical care. The audit also faulted the facility for having very
few Spanish speakers on staff. In July 2015, the facility’s 367 staffers
included only four fluent in Spanish for about 2,300 foreign nationals,
predominantly Spanish speakers. And the company’s pay and benefits
substantially lagged levels at BOP and state prisons, resulting high turnover
and a deficit of experienced staff. The company disputed the audit findings
and claimed it had made improvements. The new audit by the DOJ inspector
general’s office is its latest — but not its only — sharply criticizing
private prisons. In April 2015, the office made similar criticisms of the
Reeves County Correctional Center, a West Texas facility run by the Geo Group
(formerly known as Wackenhut). This August, the DOJ inspector general issued
an extensive report stating both inmate safety and security were generally
worse at private prisons than at federally operated ones. One week later, DOJ
announced that it intended to phase out its use of private prisons within
five years. However, since then, it has renewed contracts with two private
prisons. Eliminating federal use of private prisons was a plank in the
Democratic presidential platform, but during the campaign, Republican
standard-bearer Donald Trump spoke favorably of private prisons.
Mar 24, 2015 dailyjournal.net
NATCHEZ,
Mississippi — Three inmates charged with planning to kill a guard during a
violent federal prison riot at Adams County Correctional Center will be tried
June 8 in U.S. District Court in Jackson. The Natchez Democrat reports (http://bit.ly/1xrzkfO) the trial had been
scheduled for Monday but defense attorneys for Hector Miguel Diaz-Osuna,
Ernesto Granados and Juan Geraldo Arredondo asked for more time to prepare.
Prison guard Catlin Carithers was killed and 20
people were injured in the May 20, 2012, riot at the privately-run Adams
County Correctional Facility in Natchez, which holds immigrants convicted of
crimes while being in the U.S. illegally. The prison holds nearly 2,500
inmates, most of them convicted on charges of coming back to the U.S. after
deportation for being in the country illegally. The prison is operates by
Nashville, Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America, one of the
nation's largest private prison companies. Several other inmates have been
charged — or convicted — with participating in the riot, including Jesus BeltranRodriguez and Ricardo GonzalezPorras.
Rodriguez and Porras have already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. DiazOsuna is charged with rioting, conspiracy to murder
and a violation of the federal code protecting officers and employees of the
United States. Arredondo and Granados are each charged with rioting. Damage
to the Adams County Correctional Center was estimated to be more than $1.3
million.
Feb
9, 2015 clarionledger.com
The second inmate in a month pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges
in the 2012 Adams County Correctional Facility riot that ended in the death
of a corrections officer. Jesus Beltran Rodriguez, 36, a federal inmate from
Mexico, pled guilty today, before U.S. Senior District Judge David C. Bramlette III, to second degree murder, U.S. Attorney
Gregory K. Davis announced. The riot occurred at Adams County Correctional
Facility on May 20, 2012. During the riot, several correctional officers were
assaulted and taken hostage, and Sgt. Catlin Carithers
was killed when inmates attacked him with a food tray. The hostages were held
for several hours by participants in the riot. At least 19 inmates were
indicted on charges related to the riot. Authorities say prisoners took food
service carts out of the dining hall and kitchen and stacked them on top of
each other to climb onto the roof where Carithers
was beaten. It took hours for authorities to control the riot, which involved
hundreds of inmates, Total damage to ACCC was estimated to be $1,305,142,
according to the US Attorney's Office. The prison held nearly 2,500 inmates,
most of them convicted on charges of returning to the U.S. after deportation
for being in the country illegally. The prison is owned by Nashville,
Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America, one of the nation's largest
private prison companies. Bramlette will sentence
Rodriguez on May 19. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and
$250,000 fine. Ricardo Gonzalez-Porras, who pleaded guilty in January, will
be sentenced on April 7. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and
$250,000 fine.
Jun
13, 2014 sfgate.com
NATCHEZ,
Miss. (AP) — The attorney for an inmate indicted on federal charges of
conspiracy to commit murder related to a deadly prison riot in Mississippi
told a judge Thursday the defendant wasn't ready to plead guilty as everyone
expected. Jesus Beltran-Rodriguez was one of five inmates indicted on a
charge of conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the May 20, 2012, riot
at the Adams County Correctional Center. He had pleaded not guilty to the
charge May 22, but was scheduled for a change of plea hearing Thursday in
U.S. District Court in Natchez, according to The Natchez Democrat. In an
appearance before U.S. District Judge David Bramlette,
Rodriguez, speaking through an interpreter, told the judge he had questions
for his attorney. After a 15-minute conference, his attorney, Damon Stevenson
of Jackson, told Bramlette that he met with his
client Monday and Rodriguez had indicated at that time he was ready to move
forward with the plea. "Since Monday, it appears some issues have
arisen," Stevenson said. "He has been informed that mother is
gravely ill, and he is very emotional. At this time, I don't think he is able
to think clearly."
Bramlette granted a request
from Rodriguez's attorney to delay the plea hearing. One guard was killed and
20 people were injured in the May 20, 2012, riot at the privately-run Adams
County Correctional Facility in Natchez, which holds immigrants convicted of
crimes while being in the U.S. illegally. Court records show
Beltran-Rodriguez is one of the inmates suspected of beating the guard,
Catlin Carithers, who died. The prison holds nearly
2,500 inmates, most of them convicted on charges of coming back to the U.S.
after deportation for being in the country illegally. The prison is operates
by Nashville, Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America, one of the
nation's largest private prison companies. Several other inmates have been
charged — or convicted — with participating in the riot.
May
30, 2014 clarionledger.com
Three
people have been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to commit murder
related to a deadly prison riot in Mississippi. Federal prosecutors say in a
news release Friday that Hector Miguel Diaz-Osuna, Ricardo Gonzalez-Porras
and Jesus Beltran-Rodriguez were indicted by a grand jury. Prosecutors say
Gonzalez-Porras is also charged with assaulting a prison guard. Two other
defendants, Juan Geraldo Arredondo and Ernesto Granados, are charged in the
indictment with rioting. One guard was killed and 20 people were injured in
the May 20, 2012, riot at the privately-run Adams County Correctional
Facility in Natchez, which holds immigrants convicted of crimes while being
in the U.S. illegally. Court records show Beltran-Rodriguez is one of the
inmates suspected of beating the guard, Catlin Carithers,
who died. The prison holds nearly 2,500 inmates, most of them convicted on
charges of coming back to the U.S. after deportation for being in the country
illegally. The prison is owned by Nashville, Tennessee-based Corrections
Corporation of America, one of the nation's largest private prison companies.
Several other inmates have been charged — or convicted — with participating
in the riot. Gerson Benavides was sentenced Thursday in federal court to 75
months imprisonment. Benavides was previously convicted of rioting at the
Adams County Correctional Facility. Benavides was also ordered to pay
restitution of $1.3 million. Humberto Cuellar was sentenced Thursday 110
months imprisonment. He also was previously convicted of rioting. He also was
ordered to pay restitution of $1.3 million. Correction officer Catlin Carithers was killed and 20 people were injured as the
riot grew to involve hundreds of inmates. They caused an estimated $1.3
million in damage. The prison holds nearly 2,500 inmates, most of them
convicted on charges of coming back to the U.S. after deportation for being
in the country illegally. The FBI has said in court records that the riot was
started by a group of Mexican inmates, known as Paisas,
who were angry about what they considered poor food and medical care and
disrespectful guards. Paisas are a loosely
affiliated group within the prison, without ties to organized gangs, the FBI
has said.
Mar
12, 2014 United States Attorney Gregory K. Davis
NINE
INMATES PLEAD GUILTY TO RIOTING AT ADAMS COUNTY CORRECTIONAL CENTER Natchez,
Miss. Gerson Benavides, age 30, Joel Oswaldo Ramirez-Nunez, 33, Humberto
Cuellar, 41 Hiasom Ali, 36, Raybel
Granillo, 29, Margarito Munoz-Astello,
37, Ricardo Quintana, 27, Ruben Coronado-Licon, 22,
and Bertil James, 38, pleaded guilty on March
11, 2014 before Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Bramlette
III, to one (1) count of Rioting in a Federal Correctional Facility,
announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and FBI Special Agent in Charge
Daniel McMullen. The offense occurred on May 20, 2012 at the Adams County
Correctional Center. During the riot, several correctional officers were assaulted
and one Correctional Officer (CO) died as a result of injuries he received
during these assaults. Other COs were taken captive and held hostage for
several hours by participants in the riot. Total damage to ACCC was estimated
to be $1,305,142.00. The defendants were serving federal prison sentences at
the prison. All of the defendants with the exception of Ali and James are
citizens Mexico. Ali and James are citizens of Egypt and Trinidad and Tobago,
respectively. Each defendant faces a maximum prison sentence of ten years,
fine of $250,000.00 and supervised release term of 3 years. The defendants
will be sentenced on May 29 and June 12, 2014. This case was investigated by
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Adams County Sheriff’s
Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Lemon is prosecuting the case.
8/31/2013
menafn.com
NATCHEZ,
Aug 31, 2013 (Menafn - The Natchez Democrat -
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Corrections Corporation
of America told a federal judge earlier this week the lawsuit alleging CCA is
responsible for a correctional officer's death in a May 2012 prison riot
doesn't hold up to legal scrutiny. The family of Catlin Carithers,
24, who died May 20, 2012, after being assaulted in a seven-hour prison riot
at Adams County Correctional Center, filed the lawsuit against CCA in federal
court in May. While CCA had previously filed a brief motion to dismiss the
lawsuit, the defendants filed a 10-page memorandum with the western division
of the U.S. District Court's Southern District of Mississippi this week
expanding their argument as to why the case should not move forward. The
memorandum states that the company disputes any allegations of a breach of
duty on its part. In the response, the company argues in part that because Carithers' death falls under the Mississippi Worker's
Compensation Act because a third person or persons -- in this case, inmates
-- killed him because of his employment with CCA. While the plaintiffs have
claimed that the MWCA does not apply because CCA had a "duty to
control" the inmates, the company responded that that duty in and of
itself does not render the provision inapplicable and allowing a civil action
against the company would be entitling the plaintiffs to double recovery. The
lawsuit against CCA alleges that in order to increase profits, the company
maintained inadequate staffing, under equipped the facility and employees,
and failed to properly train employees, as well as treating inmates
"inhumanely" and -- while knowing that inmates wanted to harm Carithers specifically -- placed him in danger regardless
of that fact. The company responded that it was "an overstatement"
to allege CCA knew inmates were going to harm Carithers
and was warned they would harm him, and even if it could be inferred the
company was aware of the risk to Carithers, it
could not prove an actual intent to harm him. "To find that Defendants
acted with an 'actual intent to injure' Carithers,
one would have to believe that they intentionally understaffed, underequipped
and undertrained their employees so that the inmates would injure their
employees," the company responded in writing. "Such a diabolical
scheme is not plausible." The company likewise responded that it cannot
be held liable for the assault and battery on Carithers
by inmates by cause-and-effect of "creating inhumane conditions for the
inmates, and a dangerous work environment for its employees." The
lawsuit against CCA likewise claims that the company fraudulently concealed
from Carithers the fact that he was on a "hit
list" compiled by disgruntled inmates, and that he would not have
entered the prison on the day of the riot had he known he was on the list.
"It is also entirely speculative that Carithers
was killed by the same inmates who created the 'hit list,'" the company
responded in court filings. "Fraudulent concealment 'must be pleaded
with particularity and may not be inferred or presumed.'" The response
likewise states, "There are no facts from which it could be inferred
that Carithers -- a senior correctional officer who
was called in to help quell a disturbance at the facility he worked at --
would not report simply because an inmate informant mentioned he was on a
'hit list.'" ACCC is a 2,567-bed prison that is privately owned by CCA
and operates on a contract from the federal bureau of prisons. It opened in
2009, and is located on U.S. 84 east of Natchez.
July
24, 2013 ktvu.com
JACKSON,
Miss. — Ten people have been indicted for their roles in a riot at a prison
in Natchez that left one guard dead, federal authorities said Wednesday. The
indictments, announced Wednesday by FBI Special Agent In Charge Daniel
McMullen and U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Daniels, are in addition to nine others
previously charged in connection with the May 20, 2012, riot at the
privately-run Adams County Correctional Center. The prison is owned by
Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America, one of the
nation's largest private prison companies. McMullen and Daniels said the
defendants were charged with instigating, conniving, willfully attempting to
cause, assisting, or conspiring to cause any mutiny or riot at a federal
correctional facility. Indicted were: Gerson Benavides, 29; Adrian
Romero-Carrera, 27; Carlos Flores, 40; Ruben Coronado-Licon,
22; Ricardo Quintana, 28; Margarito Munoz-Astello,
36; Bertil James, 38; Ian Jeffrey Reid, 43; Haisam Ali, 36; and Raybell Granillo, 28. During the riot, several corrections
officers were assaulted and one officer, Catlin Carithers,
died from injuries he received. Other guards were held hostage for several
hours. It took hours for authorities to suppress the riot, which caused an
estimated $1.3 million in damage. Prosecutors have said that Marco
Perez-Serrano, also known as Jesus Fernando Ochoa, was the first inmate to
attack Carithers during the riot. Carithers died and 20 people were injured as the riot
grew to involve hundreds of inmates. Perez-Serrano pleaded not guilty in
April to a charge of rioting. A change of plea hearing is scheduled for Aug.
13 in U.S. District Court in Natchez. Inmate Jesus Beltran-Rodriguez, also
suspected of beating Carithers, and Humberto
Cuellar, accused of taking a different guard hostage during the uprising, are
scheduled for trial Oct. 7. They have pleaded not guilty to rioting. The
prison holds nearly 2,500 inmates, most of them convicted on charges of
coming back to the U.S. after deportation for being in the country illegally.
July
20, 2013 blog.gulflive.com
JACKSON,
Mississippi -- An inmate suspected of participating in the fatal beating of a
guard during a prison riot in Mississippi last year is expected to plead
guilty next month. Prosecutors say Marco Perez-Serrano, also known as Jesus
Fernando Ochoa, was the first inmate to attack correction officer Catlin Carithers during the riot at the privately run Adams
County Correctional Facility in Natchez on May 20, 2012. Carithers
died and 20 people were injured as the riot grew to involve hundreds of
inmates. Perez-Serrano is charged with rioting. A change of plea hearing is
scheduled for Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Natchez. His attorney, Joe Hollomon, did not immediately respond to a phone message.
The prison holds nearly 2,500 inmates, most of them convicted on charges of
coming back to the U.S. after deportation for being in the country illegally.
The prison is owned by Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of
America, one of the nation's largest private prison companies. Several other
inmates have been charged with participating in the riot. Perez-Serrano was
indicted in February. He pleaded not guilty in April. An FBI affidavit filed
in the case said inmates stacked food service carts from the kitchen and
climbed on to a roof where Carithers was stationed
with another guard. The affidavit says Perez-Serrano was the first person
seen attacking Carithers when he hit him with a
food tray. After other inmates joined in the attack on Carithers,
Perez-Serrano was seen hitting another guard with the tray, according to the
affidavit. The inmates used keys they took from the guards to get into
secured prison areas where more correction officers were attacked, according
to the affidavit. Perez-Serrano also was seen destroying prison property,
including a surveillance camera, and fought with members of the special response
teams that responded to the riot, authorities say. Inmate Jesus
Beltran-Rodriguez, also suspected of beating Carithers,
and Humberto Cuellar, accused of taking a different guard hostage during the
uprising, are scheduled for trial Oct. 7. They have pleaded not guilty to
rioting. Carithers family filed a federal lawsuit
alleging that inadequate staffing and poor treatment created a dangerous
environment at the facility. In a statement after the lawsuit was filed, CCA
said it "takes the safety and well-being of our staff very seriously,
and we work diligently to provide our dedicated correctional officers,
chaplains, nurses and teachers the training, security and support systems
they need in this very challenging field." "In addition to conducting
our own thorough review, we have cooperated fully with law enforcement
throughout their investigation of the incident, and we support full
prosecution of those inmates responsible for this disturbance," the
statement said. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, said prison
officials were told by an informant days before the riot that the situation
was becoming volatile and that the officials failed to warn Carithers that he and other guards were on an inmate
"hit list." Carithers was off the day of
the riot but was called in to help, his family has said. The FBI has said in
court records that the riot was started by a group of Mexican inmates, known
as Paisas, who were angry about what they
considered poor food and medical care and disrespectful guards. Paisas are a loosely affiliated group within the prison,
without ties to organized gangs, the FBI has said. It took hours for
authorities to control the riot, which caused an estimated $1.3 million in
damage. The prison's special response team and the Mississippi Highway
Patrol's SWAT team worked to end the riot while state and area law
enforcement officers, some from neighboring Louisiana, helped secure the
outside.
Jul 6, 2013 necn.com
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A prison company
wants a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by relatives of a guard who
was killed during a prison riot in Mississippi. Correction officer Catlin Carithers was beaten to death during the May 20, 2012,
riot at the privately run Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez. The
lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Natchez against Nashville,
Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the prison. The
lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, says CCA "created a dangerous
atmosphere for the correction officers by depriving inmates of basic needs
and treating them inhumanely." A motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed
Wednesday says, among other things, that CCA is immune from the claims in the
lawsuit because they are barred "by the exclusive remedy provision in
the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Act." The argument is that
workplace injuries should be compensated by workers' compensation, not
through litigation. "Carithers's death was
caused by the willful conduct of a third party (inmates) because of his
employment status as a correctional officer at ACCF and while working on the
job. Therefore, his death is compensable under the Act," the motion
said. The lawsuit says prison officials were told by an informant in the days
before the riot that the situation was becoming volatile and that the
officials failed to warn Carithers that he and
other guards were on an inmate "hit list." Besides the Workers'
Compensation Act, the motion provides an alternative argument to dismiss the
lawsuit — that the allegations fail to state a claim. "Defendants did
not assault or batter Carithers; inmates did.
Moreover, regarding the alleged failure to disclose the inmate informant's
"black list" report, the Complaint fails to allege the reliance,
proximate causation, and legal duty requirements of a fraudulent concealment
claim," the motion says. Carithers was off the
day of the riot but was called in to help, his family has said. It took hours
for authorities to control the riot, which grew to involve hundreds of
inmates and injured at least 20 people. The prison holds nearly 2,500 inmates
convicted of crimes while being in the U.S. illegally. The FBI has said in
court records that the riot was started by a group of Mexican inmates, known
as Paisas, who were angry about what they
considered poor food and medical care and disrespectful guards. Paisas are a loosely affiliated group within the prison,
without ties to organized gangs, FBI spokeswoman Deborah Madden has said.
Several inmates have been charged with rioting in the case. The prison's
special response team and the Mississippi Highway Patrol's SWAT team worked
to end the riot while state and area law enforcement officers, some from
neighboring Louisiana, helped secure the outside.
May
18, 2013 www.clarionledger.com
The
Corrections Corporation of America board chairman reportedly denied a request
at Thursday’s annual stockholders meeting for a moment of silence in memory
of murdered prison guard Catlin Carithers. Monday
will mark one year since Carithers was killed after
being called in on his day off to help quell a prison riot at the CCA-owned
Adams County Correctional Center facility near Natchez. Thursday was the
first stockholders meeting since the May 20 riot. Stockholder Alex Friedmann
said when he asked for the moment of silence, CCA Board Chairman John D.
Ferguson refused to honor the request, saying CCA had honored Carithers in other ways. The meeting was at CCA
headquarters in Nashville, where approximately 30 people stood outside, some
with signs, protesting the privately-run prison company. The meeting inside
was formal and businesslike, Friedman said, as only stockholders, executives
and staff are allowed to attend. Friedman, who said he owns CCA stock in
order to communicate issues with executives, previously served a six year
sentence at a CCA prison and is president of a watchdog nonprofit group that
opposes private prisons called Private Corrections Institute. “In that one
meeting CCA would not give 30 seconds of respect (for Carithers),”
Friedman said. “It speaks volumes how the company thinks of its employees and
how it treats them.” CCA spokesman Steve Owen said in an emailed response
that Friedman “would stop at nothing” to disparage CCA and its employees.
“Yesterday, professional corrections critic Alex Friedman shamefully
attempted to exploit the tragic death of Catlin for his own personal agenda,”
Owens said. “These antics do not honor his memory.” Friedman said a number of
other “activist stockholders” attended Thursday’s meeting, including members
of the Jesuits religious order and other religious groups. Owens said CCA has
“honored his memory in a number of ways, both at the Adams County
Correctional Facility and throughout the company.” The family of Carithers filed a lawsuit this month in connection with
the May 20 riot saying CCA was negligent in Carithers’
death. The lawsuit cites information from an informant predicting the riot
and suggesting Carithers was on a “hit list.”
Friedman said he attended a CCA stockholders meeting in 2008 when the board
honored someone’s memory with a moment of silence, but he believed the board
had a different chairman at the time. “This is the only time, at the annual
meeting, that shareholders could recognize Mr. Carithers,”
Friedman said. Owen said CCA takes the safety and well-being of the staff
very seriously, and the entire CCA family has been “deeply saddened” by Carithers’ loss. A federal judge recently rescheduled the
trial of an inmate who is accused of being the first person to attack Carithers during the riot, in which 20 others were
injured, for Aug. 19. In other CCA news, The Natchez Democrat reports that a
new company will take over operations of a facility in Wilkinson County,
which is currently run by CCA, in July. Management and Training Corporation,
a Utah-based private corrections company, reportedly received a five-year
contract with the Mississippi Department of Corrections to operate the
facility.
May
13, 2013 www.clarionledger.com
At
least one email allegedly sent by an inmate informant to the chief of
security at the Adams County Correctional Center predicted the riot that
broke out the next day resulting in a guard’s death. Other emails described a
“hit list” of prison guards, one of whom was the guard killed. In a lawsuit
filed in connection with the May 20 riot, the family of Sgt. Catlin Carithers, the prison guard who was killed, point to
these emails and information from the informant as reason to believe
Corrections Corporation of America was negligent in Carithers’
death. CCA is the Nashville-based parent company of the Natchez prison.
According to copies of the emails obtained by The Clarion-Ledger, the
security chief was warned that the leadership of certain prison groups wanted
to meet with the warden to ask for changes in medical, food, recreation and laundry
arrangements. The emails appear to have been sent to the prison’s security
chief from an inmate who had a cellphone inside the facility. At 10:14 p.m.
on May 19, the email writer says that the situation is more serious than
prison officials seemed to think. He indicated there would be meetings the
next day for the heads of the groups to list their requests to Warden Vance
Laughlin. The email characterizes one of the new leaders as having a “couple
riots on his belt,” and the informant believed most of the inmates would
follow him. “People will be ready 4 war tomorow
(sic), I am not joking,” he writes, going on to say, “Any officer that
disrespect an inmate will be punish (sic).” In the same email, the informant
warns leaders would present changes, and if the facility did not comply, they
“will burn the place down.” He then warns that it would be a peaceful
demonstration, but if the staff interfered, it could “get ugly.” He ends the
email by telling them to get ready, that this was serious, and could involve
as many as 1,600 inmates. Up to 700 inmates are believed to have participated
in the riot. The prison holds nearly 2,500 inmates convicted of crimes while
being in the U.S. illegally. CCA officials would not comment on the
informant’s warnings but condemned the actions of the inmates. “CCA takes the
safety and well-being of our staff very seriously, and we work diligently to
provide our dedicated correctional officers, chaplains, nurses and teachers
the training, security and support systems they need in this very challenging
field,” said CCA spokesman Steve Owen. “In addition to conducting our own
thorough review, we have cooperated fully with law enforcement throughout
their investigation of the incident, and we support full prosecution of those
inmates responsible for this disturbance. There is never an appropriate
justification for an inmate to instigate and participate in violence against
a correctional officer.” Alex Friedmann, an associate editor at Prison Legal
News, said he corresponded with the informant for several months. He said the
informant told him when Laughlin met with two men he
thought were leaders, they assured him there would be no problem. What the
warden didn’t know was that those men were no longer “shot callers.” “CCA
didn’t know and these guys didn’t say they’d been forced out by the other
inmates. They weren’t aware these guys had no say anymore and no power to
control the guys in their groups. The next day the inmates begin congregating
on the yard,” he said. “The guys who were there at the time took a strong,
hard response, and they threw tear gas from the roof to break up the
congregation, and they climbed up on the roof and assaulted the guards
throwing tear gas at them.” Carithers, 24, was on
that roof. According to one of the emails, the writer also told prison
officials Carithers was one of several guards who
was on a “hit list,” designated to be injured or worse if there was any
trouble. Inmates stacked food carts to get to the roof to attack Carithers and the others. During the riot, fire also
broke out. Carithers wasn’t supposed to work on the
Sunday of the riot. He recently had received a promotion to senior
corrections officer that took him off the weekend shift. “They called him in
for backup,” his brother Josey Carithers said at
the time. “I know my brother, and I bet he got in his truck and hauled butt
to go help. He was ready.” Emails supposedly from the inmate to the chief of
security a few days later said he couldn’t accept that someone as young as Carithers died because of the warden’s “stupidity.” The
security chief wrote back saying he felt terrible about it because he was the
one who called Carithers to come into work on his
day off, resulting in his death. The lawsuit brought against CCA by Carithers’ family is based on the claims that CCA was
aware of the hit list and was aware that officers on the hit list would be
injured or punished. Carithers was not warned when
he was called into work that day. “The inmate informant further asked why the
Facility security officer put Catlin on the front line when the facility
administration knew he would be ‘eaten alive’ by the inmates,” the complaint
states. The complaint also states CCA officials put their guards in further
danger by maintaining a less than adequate staff with underequipped and
undertrained officers. In addition, the complaint states, CCA “further
created a dangerous atmosphere for the correction officers by depriving the
inmates of basic needs and treating them inhumanely.” The suit asks CCA for
past medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, funeral and
related costs, future lost income, future emotional distress, loss of
consortium, attorney fees, punitive damages, prejudgment and post judgment
interest and any other damages warranted under the circumstances. The
family’s attorneys did not return calls for comment, and both the FBI and the
U.S. attorney’s office said they could not comment on the ongoing
investigation. The FBI has said in court records that the riot was started by
a group of Mexican inmates, known as Paisas. Paisas are a loosely affiliated group within the prison,
one of many groups referred to as “nations,” because they usually congregate
based on what country they are from or what language they speak, Friedmann
explained. Several inmates have been charged with rioting in the case. One of
them, Marco Perez-Serrano, has been identified as the first person to attack Carithers when he hit him with a food tray. Carithers was beaten to death with a lunch tray.
8
May 2013 Associated Press Newswires
JACKSON,
Miss. (AP) - The family of a guard killed during a prison riot in Mississippi
filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday that says inadequate staffing and poor treatment
created a dangerous environment at the facility. Correction officer Catlin Carithers was beaten to death during the May 20, 2012,
riot at the privately run Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez. It
took hours for authorities to control the riot, which grew to involve
hundreds of inmates and injured at least 20 people. The lawsuit was filed in
U.S. District Court in Natchez against Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections
Corporation of America, which runs the prison. A CCA spokesman didn't immediately
respond to phone and email messages Wednesday. CCA "created a dangerous
atmosphere for the correction officers by depriving inmates of basic needs
and treating them inhumanely," the lawsuit says. It also says that
prison officials were told by an informant in the days before the riot that
the situation was becoming volatile and that the officials failed to warn Carithers that he and other guards were on an inmate
"hit list." Carithers was off the day of
the riot but was called in to help, his family has said. The prison holds
nearly 2,500 inmates convicted of crimes while being in the U.S. illegally.
The FBI has said in court records that the riot was started by a group of
Mexican inmates, known as Paisas, who were angry
about what they considered poor food and medical care and disrespectful
guards. Paisas are a loosely affiliated group
within the prison, without ties to organized gangs, FBI spokeswoman Deborah
Madden has said. Several inmates have been charged with rioting in the case.
One of them, Marco Perez-Serrano, has been identified as the first person to
attack Carithers when he hit him with a food tray.
A complaint filed by an FBI agent says prisoners took food service carts out
of the dining hall and kitchen and stacked them on top of each other to climb
onto the roof, where Carithers was working. Carithers joined CCA in 2009. His cousin, Jason Clark,
told The Associated Press in an interview after the riot that Carithers was engaged to be married and excited about a
recent promotion that took him off weekend shifts. He had been trained in
recent years as part of the prison's special response team and was called to
work Sunday to help with the uprising, Clark said at the time. The prison's
special response team and the Mississippi Highway Patrol's SWAT team worked
to end the riot while state and area law enforcement officers, some from
neighboring Louisiana, helped secure the outside.
October 12, 2012 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NATCHEZ, Miss. — A federal grand jury has indicted an inmate who authorities
have identified as an alleged instigator of the May 20 prison riot at the
Adams County Correctional Center that left a guard dead. The Natchez Democrat
reports (http://bit.ly/X0841l ) that Yoany Oriel Serrano-Bejarano
has been charged with instigating and conspiring to cause the riot. Court
records say prisoners were angry about their treatment the day the riot
erupted. In September, an FBI agent stated in an affidavit that Serrano-Bejarano was one of a number of inmates who stacked food
carts in order to reach correctional officers on the roof of one of the
prison's buildings during the riot. Prison guard Catlin Carithers
was assaulted on the roof and later died from his injuries. At least 20
people were injured. Authorities say Serrano-Bejarano
had a prison staff radio during the riot, assaulted a hostage and contributed
to the destruction at the facility. The prison holds nearly 2,500 illegal
immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States. It's owned by Nashville,
Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America, one of the nation's largest
private prison companies. An FBI agent's affidavit in the case said the riot
was started by a group of Mexican inmates, known as Paisas,
who were angry about what they considered poor food and medical care and disrespectful
guards. Paisas are a loosely affiliated group
within the prison, without ties to organized gangs, FBI spokeswoman Deborah
Madden said. Court records show Serrano-Bejarano
was released from prison Aug. 28 for his previous crimes, but has been in federal
custody since Sept. 5. Another inmate, Juan Lopez-Fuentes, pleaded guilty in
August to charges related to the riot and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov.
19.
September 6, 2012 AP
One inmate has pleaded guilty to participating in a deadly prison riot in
Mississippi, while a second prisoner has been charged in the case. One guard
was killed and 20 people were injured in the May 20 riot at the privately-run
Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez, which holds illegal immigrants
convicted of crimes in the United States. Yoany
Oriel Serrano-Bejarano was charged Tuesday. A
complaint filed by an FBI agent says he assaulted a guard and helped other
inmates climb onto the roof of a building where correction officer Catlin Carithers was beaten to death. The affidavit says
prisoners took food service carts out of the dining hall and kitchen and
stacked them on top of each other to climb onto the roof where Carithers was assaulted. "Serrano-Bejarano has been identified as one of the inmates who
held the food carts so the inmates could access the roof," the complaint
says. The court documents also say that Serrano-Bejarano
assaulted a different guard, was seen with a prison guard's radio, and
destroyed cameras and windows. Serrano-Bejarano is
at least the second inmate charged in the case. Court records did not list an
attorney for him. Juan Lopez-Fuentes pleaded guilty to participating in the
riot during a hearing Aug. 27 in U.S. District Court in Natchez. He faces up
to 10 years in prison at sentencing on Nov. 19. Lopez-Fuentes was charged
with leading a group of inmates who took hostages in one section of the
prison. He forced one of the hostages to relay orders for tactical teams to
drop their weapons and back off, according to court records in his case.
Lopez-Fuentes was serving time for two previous felonies at the time and was
facing deportation. The FBI affidavit doesn't say why Serrano-Bejarano was being held in the prison, though it says he
was released Aug. 28 and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs
enforcement for deportation. The criminal charge will allow authorities to
hold him pending the outcome of the case. Court records say the prisoners
were angry about their treatment the day the riot erupted. The prison holds
nearly 2,500 illegal immigrants, most of them convicted on charges of coming
back to the U.S. after being deported. The prison is owned by Nashville,
Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America, one of the nation's largest
private prison companies. The FBI says in court records that the riot was
started by a group of Mexican inmates, known as Paisas,
who were angry about what they considered poor food and medical care and
disrespectful guards. Paisas are a loosely
affiliated group within the prison, without ties to organized gangs, FBI
spokeswoman Deborah Madden has said. It took hours for authorities to control
the riot, which grew to involve hundreds of inmates and caused an estimated
$1.3 million in damage. The prison's special response team and the
Mississippi Highway Patrol's SWAT team worked to end the riot while state and
area law enforcement officers, some from neighboring Louisiana, helped secure
the outside.
August 14, 2012 Commercial Appeal
A deadly riot at a prison for illegal immigrants in Mississippi was started
by a group of Mexican inmates angry about what they considered poor food and
medical care and disrespectful guards, according to an FBI agent's affidavit.
One guard was killed and 20 people were injured in the May 20 riot at the
privately-run Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez, which holds
illegal immigrants convicted of crimes in the U.S. The leaders of the Mexican
inmates, known as the Paisas, demanded to take a
list of grievances to the warden that day and told others in the group to
disobey orders from prison staff, according to the FBI affidavit. The
affidavit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Jackson, is part of a
complaint charging one of the inmates with rioting. Correction officer Catlin
Carithers was beaten to death during the riot,
which officials have said involved as many as 300 inmates and left the prison
badly damaged. The affidavit does not say who killed Carithers.
The affidavit says the Paisas were the most
influential group in the prison. But it had recently gone through a shake-up
in its leadership because members thought the old leaders weren't effective
in communicating complaints to prison officials. The new leaders — Ernesto
"Neto" Granados and Juan "Bobby" Arredondo — allegedly
ordered the Paisas to disobey prison staff by
refusing to return to their cells until their demands were met. FBI
spokeswoman Deborah Madden said Paisas are a
loosely affiliated group within the prison, without ties to organized gangs.
"The Paisas were further instructed by their
new leaders to destroy the prison if staff made any attempts to break up the
riot," the affidavit said. It says damages to the prison are estimated
at more than $1.3 million. "In addition to destroying the prison, Paisas planned to assault the correction officers."
At one point, the inmates gained access to a section of the prison by telling
the warden they wanted to go back to their cells, but they ended up taking
more hostages once they got into that part of the facility, the affidavit
said. Other inmates were able to break through a fence and get a 32-foot
ladder, which they used to get on the roof of a building. That's where Carithers was killed. The affidavit describes a chaotic
scene in which inmates were picking up tear gas canisters and hurling them
back at guards. Some guards locked themselves in safe rooms, but the inmates
used keys taken from other officers to get into the rooms. They also looted
the kitchen and commissary. The affidavit is part of a criminal complaint
that alleges that Juan Lopez-Fuentes was in charge of a group of inmates who
took hostages in one section of the prison. Lopez-Fuentes allegedly forced
one of the hostages, a prison guard, to relay orders for tactical teams to
drop their weapons and back off. The prison's special response team and the
Mississippi Highway Patrol's SWAT team worked to end the riot while state and
area law enforcement officers, some from neighboring Louisiana, helped secure
the outside, officials have said. The prison holds nearly 2,500 low-security
inmates, with most serving time for coming back to the United States after
being deported. The facility is owned by Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections
Corp. of America, one of the nation's largest private prison companies.
May 22, 2012 Colorlines.com
A Mississippi jail is on lockdown today after a Sunday night riot left one
prison guard dead and as many as 20 inmates and guards injured. According to
sheriff’s reports, the violence began as a gang feud and soon engulfed the
privately operated facility, which holds 2,500 non-citizens incarcerated for
reentering the United States after deportation and for other charges. But the
fragments of information that have emerged from inmates and advocates suggest
that the violence had more to do with a pattern of abuse and neglect that has
emerged at privately run, for-profit prisons. The Adams County sheriff’s
office and the Corrections Corporation of America, the behemoth prison
company that operates the facility for the federal Bureau of Prisons, have
tightly controlled news of the riot and what caused it. In statements,
officials say the violence emerged out of thin air and soon “turned into a
mob mentality,” according to Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield. “This could
have happened anywhere, anytime,” Mayfield told the Associated Press. Prison
watchdogs say that’s not necessarily true. What little independent
information that has emerged from inside Adams County Correctional Center
suggests a different story—one of mistreatment and abuse at the hands of
guards that may have reached a breaking point. At 5 p.m. on Sunday evening,
an inmate reportedly phoned a local TV station with a cell phone, sending
photos to confirm that he was indeed held inside the facility. “They always
beat us and hit us,” the prisoner told the local reporter. “We just pay them
back. We’re trying to get better food, medical (care), programs, clothes, and
we’re trying to get some respect from the officers and lieutenants.”
According to the news report, the prisoner said that nine guards had been
taken hostage. In an interview with Colorlines.com, Patricia Ice, who directs
the legal program at the Mississippi Immigrants
Rights Alliance, said that her organization has heard reports of neglect and
abuse inside the Adams County facility. Ice said she received a call last
month from a California woman who reported medical neglect of a family member
in the jail. “I got a complaint from a family member saying that a man had
lung cancer and was being ignored,” Ice said. “Three weeks earlier, he was
examined by a doctor and diagnosed with lung cancer but had not received any
treatment at all.” Prisoners' rights advocates say that the accounts of these
inmates are consistent with documented conditions in private prison
facilities around the country. “Private prisons have a financial incentive to
spend as little as possible in order to make a greater profit,” said Bob Libal of Grassroots Leadership. Libal
is a longtime advocate for the rights of prisoners held in private
facilities. “They skimp on staff salaries and training, which leads to high
turnover rates. They spend as little as possible on services in order to
maximize profit. This mentality leads to poorly run facilities where abuse,
neglect and prisoner uprisings are common.”
May 22, 2012 Clarion Ledger
A U.S. Representative is calling for an investigation into the Adams County
Correctional Center, where a riot on Sunday left a guard dead and several
other people injured. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is the ranking Democrat on
the House Homeland Security Committee, and thus oversees the Bureau of
Prisons. WAPT-16 reports he has called the inspector general to start the
inquiry into the facility and how it manages inmates. "There are some
issues with the privately run facilities, so I think between the Bureau of
Prisons and the Department of Homeland Security, you will see some
restricting of that process," Thompson said.
May 21, 2012 Clarion Ledger
At least one former employee of the Adams County Correctional Center said
he was sad but not surprised when he heard that things had turned violent
inside the facility. Donnie Hedgepeth of Lincoln
County said he worked there when the facility opened in 2009 until sometime
in 2010. He said he quit his job because he believed the jailers were
outnumbered. "I told everyone before I left, 'I know what's going to
happen,'" he said. "It was too unsafe the way it was. There were
too many prisoners for each guard." Hedgepeth
said when he worked there the ratio was somewhere between 200 and 300
prisoners per guard. There was one guard per pod of up to 300 prisoners, and
three pods per dorm. Each dorm had one officer per pod, he said. "I
don't know that it's still like that. It could have changed," he said.
"But I didn't like working there. It was too unsafe for me." Emilee
Beach, a prison spokeswoman, did not return an email seeking comment on how
many corrections officers there were as opposed to prisoners.
May 21, 2012 AP
As many as 300 inmates, some of them armed with makeshift weapons such as
broomsticks, rioted at a privately run prison for illegal immigrants, beating
a guard to death and injuring 19 people, a sheriff said Monday. More than two
dozen officers were held hostage at some point during the hours-long spate of
violence Sunday, including a group of 15 who had to be rescued by special
response teams, Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield said. A gang fight set
off the violence, the sheriff said. The guard was killed on the roof of one
of the prison buildings. Sixteen prison employees were treated for various
injuries and released from a hospital. Three inmates were hurt, officials
said. The Adams County Correctional Facility holds nearly 2,500 illegal
immigrants, with most serving time for coming back to the United States after
being deported, said Emilee Beach, a prison spokeswoman. Some of the inmates
have also been convicted of other crimes. The guard killed was identified as
Catlin Carithers, who joined Corrections
Corporation of America in 2009 and was a senior correctional officer, the
Nashville, Tenn.-based company said on its website. CCA is one of the largest
private prison companies in the country. Carithers'
cousin, Jason Clark, said the slain guard was engaged and was excited about a
recent promotion that took him off the weekend shifts. He had been trained in
recent years as part of the prison's special response team and was called
into work Sunday to help with the uprising. "He liked protecting
people," Clark said, adding that his cousin had worked as a volunteer
firefighter. It wasn't immediately clear if the gang fight started between
members of the same gang or rival groups, but the situation escalated quickly
and spread throughout the prison, Mayfield said. "They had makeshift
weapons, broom handles, mop handles, anything they could pull apart, trashcan
lids for shields, anything they could grab," Mayfield said. At one
point, the inmates set a fire in the prison yard. Frank Smith, who runs the
online prison watchdog group Private Corrections Working Group, said riots
are usually caused by poor conditions, but the sheriff said that was not the
case. "The big problem is CCA tries to cut corners in every possible
way. They short-staff, the don't fix equipment, and things just get more and
more out of control, and that's what leads to these riots. It's just about
maximizing short-term profits," he said.
May 20, 2012 CNN
A prison guard was killed and several employees injured Sunday in a riot
at the Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez, Mississippi, officials
said. The 23-year-old guard appeared to suffer "blunt trauma to the
head," said Adams County Coroner James Lee. The riot, which began about
2:40 p.m., was still going on Sunday night, the facility's operator said in a
statement. Local and state law enforcement officials as well as authorities
from the Federal Bureau of Prisons were helping the facility quell the
violence. "The disturbance is contained within the secure perimeter of
the facility, with no threat to public safety," the statement said. Five
employees and one inmate were taken to a hospital for treatment of
unspecified injuries, while additional staff members were being treated at
the prison. Johar Lashin
told CNN that he'd heard a lot of noise and commotion when he talked around 6
p.m. with his brother Jawad, an inmate at the Natchez facility serving time
for aiding and abetting illegal immigrants. His brother said he was not
participating in the riot, despite pressure from other inmates to do so. The
cause of the incident is under investigation. Rusty Boyd, a spokesman with
the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said Sunday evening that 45 to 55 units from
that state agency are helping corrections officers deal with the situation.
The facility is a 2,567-bed prison that houses adult men who are in the
United States illegally and charged with crimes. It is owned by the
Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America. Warden Vance Laughlin
described the facility as quiet and with "few problems" in a March
2010 article in The Natchez Democrat, a few months after it opened to
incarcerate illegal immigrants detained for mostly low-security crimes. At
that point, it contained more than 2,000 inmates -- more than two-thirds of
whom were of Mexican descent, although scores of nationalities were then
represented.
April 21, 2009 Natchez Democrat
Eric Staiger just moved to Natchez and now he
and his family need a place to live. Staiger is a
newly hired assistant warden at the Correction Corporations of America
facility and has not been able to find rental housing since he began
searching prior to his move to Natchez. “It’s been a challenge so far,” Staiger said of locating a rental house for himself, his
wife and their two kids. He started his search on the Internet before he left
his home in Ohio. “I thought it would be easier,” he said. “Now I’m just
relying on word of mouth and working with my Realtor.” And Natchez Realtor
Sue Stedman said while she’s thrilled to see job growth in the community, she
isn’t surprised by Staiger’s struggle. “There
aren’t many rentals out there right now,” Stedman said. “And some people are
going to notice a shortage.” But Stedman said while rentals can be hard to
come by, the sale market in Natchez is doing well. Stedman said the number of
houses for sale in the area has reached pre-Katrina levels. But that won’t
help Staiger. CCA Warden Vance Laughlin said upper
level management at the prison is being hired from within the company.
Laughlin said his group of managers is coming to the area with the intent of
being promoted out of Adams County, and are not in the market to buy a house.
“They need rentals,” Laughlin said.
March 15, 2009 Natchez Democrat
Last week, as most of the Adams County Supervisors were in town taking care
of county business, one supervisor was in the nation’s capital taking county
business to a whole other level. Supervisor Darryl Grennell
was in Washington D.C. for the National Association of Counties’ Legislative
Conference, and in the midst of lectures and meetings Grennell
was able to meet with some of the nation’s higher-ups to talk county
business. On Monday, Grennell was able to meet with
U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran to discuss several issues pertinent to Adams County.
“I think it was a very productive meeting,” Grennell
said. “He was very receptive.” Grennell said while
no formal actions came from the meeting, he was glad to have had the
opportunity to make Cochran aware of what’s going on in Adams County. Grennell said he and Cochran were able to discuss the
repair projects at Marblestone Alley and West Stiers Lane, acquisition of federal stimulus money for
road repairs in the county and the new Corrections Corporation of America
prison. “Basically he said he’d make some phone calls on the county’s
behalf,” Grennell said. “It went well.” While work
on the Marblestone Alley and West Stiers projects isn’t new, Grennell
said he was grateful to have had a chance to talk about stimulus funding and
the CCA prison. The county hasn’t gotten any firm commitments on stimulus
funding and the prison is currently without prisoners since it has not
secured any contracts that would provide inmates. “Hopefully this can get the
ball rolling,” Grennell said. Supervisor Mike
Lazarus said he hopes the county will be able to see positive results from Grennell’s visit. “It’s always good to have connections,”
Lazarus said. “It’s big. It keeps our name at the top of the list when
projects come up. It’s very helpful for us.”
January 8, 2009 Natchez Democrat
On Dec. 1 Corrections Corporation of America completed construction at its
new prison on U.S. 84, but the facility is without prisoners. Warden Vance
Laughlin said the facility looks great. The halls are quiet, the beds are
empty and there aren’t any guards on duty. And that won’t change anytime
soon. Laughlin said he’s not expecting any inmates until at least June. The hold up comes from a missing, but crucial, federal
contract. Once in place, it’s the contract that will fill the jail with the
all-important prisoners. The contract, which was originally expected to be in
place by Oct. 1, is “delayed indefinitely,” Laughlin said. Laughlin said he’s
hoping it will be in place by the first quarter of this year. But once the
contract is in place it will be at least 120 days before the prison sees its
first inmate. That 120-day period will be used for hiring and training guards
and other employees. And there’s no clear answer on exactly what’s stalling
the contract. Laughlin said he thinks the general economic slow-down has had
an impact on the contract. Additionally, the money to be used for the contract
has not been finalized. CCA marketing director Steve Owen said he attributes
some of the delay to administrative changes as high up as the White House.
Owen said those changes have an impact on Congress, which ultimately controls
the budget for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. And Congress has yet to
finalize the bureau’s 2009 budget. “Government contracts can move slowly,”
Owen said. “Sometimes these things can just drag out.” But the slow pace of
progress isn’t reason for concern, Owen said. Owen said he’s confident the
federal contract will come through — but if it doesn’t there are other
options. “Still our focus is on what we pitched the facility for,” he said of
CCA’s intent to pursue a federal contract. Both Laughlin and Owen said if the
federal contract fails, the prison can, and will, pursue other contracts.
November 3, 2008 Natchez Democrat
If country music songs are to be believed, prison cells are the loneliest
places to be, but being warden of a prison with no prisoners isn’t much fun
either. Vance Laughlin, warden of the new Adams County Correctional Facility,
told members of the Rotary Club of Natchez that he’s got plenty of time on
his hands in the next couple of months. Just call if you need a hand with
anything, he told the crowd, joking, at least a little. Laughlin said
Wednesday that a delay in granting a federal prison contract means the new
facility is vacant for just a little while longer. Originally, Corrections
Corporation of America, the owner of the private prison, expected the
contract would be announced Oct. 1, Laughlin said, but now it looks like it
will be in the first quarter of 2009. Originally, CCA had announced they
would start accepting job applications in October, but Laughlin said the
delay in the contract has delayed the need for hiring just a bit longer.
“We’re (still) coming,” Laughlin said. “Once we start hiring, it’s going to
be very, very visible … lots of big ads … just give us some time.” The time
is no problem, Laughlin said, in fact he said he’s looking at it as a
positive factor. “From my perspective, as warden, it gives me another two to
three months to get things set up,” he said. Construction on the $140
million, 2,500-bed facility is expected to be complete by Dec. 1, he said.
But even if CCA receives the much-anticipated contract to house illegal
immigrant prisoners — ones who will likely be deported after their sentences
are served — the first prisoner would not report to the facility until 120
days after the contract is awarded. But, Laughlin said, CCA would begin
screening applicants the very next day after the contract is awarded. “We’re
very hopeful for this contract, but we could not get it,” he said. “If so, we
have a plan B and we have a plan C. “The (Federal) Bureau (of Prisons) is a
very important customer so they get first shot,” he said.
April 21, 2008 AP
Gov. Haley Barbour has signed into law a bill that gives a privately
owned jail in Natchez the authority to house federal and state inmates. The
Adams County Correctional Center is currently under construction and is
slated to be completed in December 2008. Barbour said signing "this
legislation is appropriate as the state continues to find alternative housing
solutions for our growing inmate population." Governor. The correctional
facility is located on more than 140 acres in southwest Mississippi near
Natchez. It is owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America.
August 1, 2007 Clarion Ledger
A 1,668-bed private prison being built in Adams County secured the final
$500,000 in matching funds today to extend the Natchez sewer lines to the
site. The Delta Regional Authority will provide that money for the
Corrections Corporation of America prison, which is scheduled to be completed
by the end of 2008. Funding for the sewer project will accelerate completion
of the project, which is expected to create approximately 300 jobs. The
funding was announced today in a joint news release from Sens. Thad Cochran
and Trent Lott, Gov. Haley Barbour and 3rd District U.S. Chip Pickering.
"Southwest Mississippi is an important part of our state and this new
facility will help create economic confidence in the area by generating
hundreds of new jobs," Cochran said in the news release. Lott noted in
the news release that the sewer project has an additional benefit.
"Anytime you expand or upgrade water or waste water service, it is a
well-placed, long-term investment in the community that can promote new
residential and commercial growth," he said.
12, 2007 Natchez Democrat
The board of aldermen agreed on a more binding agreement between the city
and county governments regarding water and sewer services to a private prison
Tuesday. Walter Brown, who represents the private prison company CCA and the
city waterworks, asked the aldermen to sign an interlocal agreement. The
agreement would spell out more specific responsibilities of the parties
involved, Brown said. The city and county are applying for grants to fund the
water and sewer infrastructure to the proposed prison near Cranfield. An
interlocal agreement would help secure those grant monies, Brown said. The
project will still require no city or county taxpayer money, he said. The
interlocal agreement would simply say, “We’re doing our part of the project,
and they’re doing theirs,” Brown said. Because CCA wants to meet the GO Zone
deadline to benefit from financial incentives, time was short, Brown said.
“CCA still wants to take the deed by July 1,” Brown said. “We’re really under
the gun to meet their timeline.” Some of the parties involved, such as Adams
County Water Association and the county have asked for changes to the
original draft of the agreement, he said, so he did not have the final
document at Tuesday’s meeting. That didn’t sit well with Alderman James
“Ricky” Gray. “It’s kind of unusual for me to sit up here and vote for
something I haven’t seen and the city attorney hasn’t read over,” Gray said.
“I like to read over something before I vote and sign it.” Since time was of
the essence, Alderman Jake Middleton suggested the board give the mayor and
board attorney authorization to review the document before they signed it. “I
don’t think they’re going to sign off on something that’s not beneficial,”
Middleton said. Brown said he would be happy to get copies of the draft to
anyone interested. The board voted authority to the mayor to sign the
agreement.
May 3, 2007 Natchez Democrat
The new prison needs $4 million in water and sewer infrastructure, but if all
goes as planned, the county and city won’t have to shell out a penny of their
own. If plans fall through, the money may come out of taxes the company would
be paying to the county. Adams County Water Association plans to provide the
water, and Natchez Water Works will provide the sewer for the Corrections
Corporation of America private prison near Cranfield. However, they need the
money for things like labor, pipes and a water tank. So the city and county
are looking to get money through grants that private CCA can’t get. The
county board of supervisors approved the project Tuesday and asked the Southwest
Mississippi Development District to hunt for grants and loans. Such grants
could come from several places, including federal funds and the Delta
Regional Authority, attorney Walter Brown said. Hopefully, the grants won’t
require matching funds, said Brown, who represents CCA locally and Natchez
Water Works. “A 10 percent match is normally required, but we’ve asked for it
to be waived,” Brown said. “If not, we’ll figure out how to handle it. Most
logical would be a tax increment financing bond.” Such a bond would use the
company’s future taxes to pay off the debt. That way, the county isn’t losing
any money it currently has, Brown said. Previously, CCA and county
representatives said no city or county money would be required if the prison
located in Adams County. That worries Supervisor Henry Watts. “Full
disclosure is always my concern — full disclosure on the front end, letting
the supervisors know,” Watts said. “Give us a good idea what kind of money
the taxpayers of Adams County are having to put up, not only on the prison
but on any proposal.” Tuesday’s supervisors meeting was the first time Watts
said he had heard the county might need to play a role in the prison project.
“It was the first time I’d heard we were actually going to have to put up money,”
Watts said. “Am I scared of that? No. But right now, we have no idea how much
money we’d have to put up.”
Central Mississippi Correctional Facility
Rankin, Mississippi
Wexford (formerly run by Correctional Medical Services)
For Jamie
Scott, an $11 Robbery in Mississippi May Carry a Death Sentence,
By James Ridgeway and Jean Casella
December 2, 2008 Clarion Ledger
William Morris Byrd Jr. had been in and out of prison most of his life, but
Charlotte Boyd, his sister, said he did not have to die there. Byrd, 53, died
Nov. 21 after what Boyd described as months of wasting away at Central
Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl. While the family is waiting for
the autopsy, Boyd said the initial cause of death is Crohn's Disease, a
chronic but treatable inflammation of the digestive path that she said had
blocked her brother's esophagus. "He literally starved. We watched him
turn into a skeleton," she said. Byrd was serving a lengthy sentence for
rape and was not eligible for parole until 2020. Boyd realizes her brother
may not be a sympathetic figure to most, but after reading a story last week
in The Clarion-Ledger, she said her brother may not be alone. "If they
are doing him that way, they are going to let somebody else die, too,"
she said. "Even a dog needs medical attention." Mississippi
Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Byrd received appropriate medical
care from the prison. "We provided timely, quality medical care for the
inmate," he said, "as we do for all of our inmates."
Mississippi's per-capita death rate for prisoners has spiked in recent years.
In 2001, the state's death rate was at the national average, but in 2006
Mississippi's inmate death rate was the second highest in the nation. In
2007, inmate deaths rose again. The majority of those deaths are from natural
causes, and former inmates and family members of current inmates say medical
care in the state's prison system is inadequate. Epps blames the higher death
rate on several factors, including an increasingly aged prison population and
generally unhealthy lifestyles that have made the state a leader in medical
problems like heart disease and diabetes. Epps expressed confidence in MDOC's
medical contractor, Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Wexford Health Sources, but the
Legislative Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review
last year released a report criticizing the prison system's response to
chronic-care issues. PEER also found that Wexford's medical staffing was not
in compliance with the terms of its contract with the state. The report found
13 percent staffing shortages at the MDOC prisons in Pearl, Parchman and Leakesville. Officials at MDOC referred
questions about current Wexford staffing levels to the contractor. Wexford
did not return a telephone call Monday but last week referred questions to
MDOC. Senate Corrections Chairman Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, said the
increase in the prisoner death rate is worth keeping an eye on, but he said Epps' explanation of the increase is plausible. It's
something lawmakers would want to pay attention to and monitor, "get a
little more information on," he said. "It didn't come across as
there was any kind of serious problem of neglect." But the rising number
of deaths worries people like Diane Rowell, whose hypoglycemic son is in
South Mississippi Correctional Facility serving a short sentence for a parole
violation. She said her son has lost weight and complains of being tired.
"It worries me. I cry a lot about it," she said. "I know they
broke the law, but they are still human beings."
July 16, 2005 Clarion Ledger
A state prisoner suffering from life-threatening illnesses has been denied
medical treatment for more than a month, a lawsuit claims. The lawsuit,
filed this week in U.S. District Court in Jackson, seeks immediate medical
treatment for Raymond Winne of Gulfport, an inmate at Central Mississippi
Correctional Facility in Rankin County. The Eighth Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution guarantees an inmate the right to receive necessary medical
attention, the suit says. Named as defendants are the
correctional facility Superintendent Margaret Bingham and Correctional
Medical Services, Inc., which provides medical treatment for state
inmates. The lawsuit comes after an American Civil Liberties Union
class- action lawsuit was filed in June on behalf of roughly 1,000 inmates in
Unit 32 at the state Penitentiary in Parchman.
The lawsuit's allegations include that inmates in the super maximum security
unit are subjected to inadequate medical, mental health and dental
care. In 2003, the ACLU filed a lawsuit and won improvements in Unit 32
for death row inmates.
Delta Correctional Facility/Leflore County Jail
Greenwood, Mississippi
CCA
July 11, 2012 AP
Leflore County's Board of Supervisors has been told it could cost more than
$3.1 million to fully repair the Leflore County Jail. The estimate presented
to the board this week is considerably more than the $1 million the county
has earmarked for the work out of proceeds from a $4 million bond issue. Two
plans that leave out some fixes at the jail would cost $1.4 million and $1.9
million, according to The Greenwood Commonwealth. Sheriff Ricky Banks, jail
consultant Ed Hargett and architect G.G. Ferguson explained the projections
to the board Monday. Hargett recommended the least expensive option. He said
it would provide the "bare minimum" of what is needed for
accreditation by the American Correctional Association. Hargett called the
three plans a Cadillac, a Chevrolet and a Pinto. Banks, who preferred the
term "Model T" for the final plan, declined to say Monday which
plan he recommended when asked by Supervisor Anjuan
Brown. "We can live with whatever y'all vote for," the sheriff
said. Leflore County took over operation of its jail from Corrections
Corporation of America in February. One of the reasons cited for leaving by
the private prison operator — which also ran the adjacent and now-closed
state prison — was the anticipated high cost of repairs. Initial estimates by
Hargett had been about $1 million, far less than even the lowest cost plan
presented Monday.
November 10, 2011 AP
Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Thursday that a
privately run prison in Leflore County will close in January. Epps said the
state and Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America mutually
agreed to cease operations. "This decision wasn't reached
overnight," Epps told The Associated Press. He said the state's cost per
day for taking care of inmates was $34.61 for medium custody beds. By state
law, Epps said CCA had to accept a rate of 10 percent less, or about $31.15
per inmate per day. "They said they couldn't make it on that," Epps
said. Epps said there will be more savings to the state because he will move
the inmates to facilities where he won't have to spend anything extra other
than providing meals, clothing and medical care. Delta Correctional Facility,
which opened in 1996, has about 218 employees. There are presently about 900
inmates housed in the medium-security prison and another 125 in the adjacent
Leflore County Jail, which CCA also has been under contract to operate. CCA
announced it will be pulling out of operating the jail as well. Epps and CCA
officials said plans are to cease operations of the 1,172-bed Delta Correctional
Facility in Greenwood, Miss. on Jan. 15, 2012. Epps said he has over 4,000
vacant beds in the corrections system, which includes state facilities,
community work centers and regional prisons. "Eight hundred of them are
going to regional facilities and the others to state facilities," he
said.
September 13, 2011 Tennessean
Former Metro Police Sgt. Mark Chesnut has
settled a lawsuit against Corrections Corporation of America that blamed the
private prison company of negligence after an escapee shot and nearly killed
him. Chesnut was shot five times by Joseph Jackson
Jr. on June 25, 2009, after pulling over Jackson and his cousin on Interstate
40 near Bellevue. Unbeknownst to Chesnut, Jackson
had just been sprung from a Mississippi prison owned by CCA. Jackson is
serving 45 years in prison and his cousin Courtney Logan is serving 31 years.
Chesnut sued CCA, accusing the company of not
properly supervising Jackson. The lawsuit asked for $16.5 million, but court
records do not indicate how much the case settled for. Court records show the
settlement was reached in late August with a mediator.
September 1, 2011 AP
Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks says authorities have filled a hole where
a contraband gun was found in a jail cell. The .25-caliber automatic pistol
was found this past Saturday in a cell where inmates are taken as they're
being booked into the county jail. Banks tells The Greenwood Commonwealth (http://bit.ly/nclLP20 ) that the gun was in a pipe casing.
He says 17 or 18 inmates went through the room since the last time the pipe
casing was inspected a day or two before the gun was found. Corrections
Corporation of America contracts with Leflore County to run the jail.
Investigators will run a check on the gun with the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but Banks says they're unlikely to find
anything because it's a cheap pistol.
August 18, 2011 AP
The Greenwood Police Department has concluded its investigation into a July
fight that left one man dead at Delta Correctional Facility. The Greenwood
Commonwealth ( ) reports that Chief Henry Purnell plans to release the
findings soon. Twenty-six-year-old Derek Criddle
was fatally stabbed during a fight in a housing pod on July 6; six other
inmates were injured during the clash. Police and officials from the
Mississippi Department of Corrections and Corrections Corp. of America —
which contracts with the state to run the 1,172-bed, medium-security prison —
have released few details of what happened.
July 8, 2011 AP
Authorities have released the name of an inmate killed this week at the Delta
Correctional Facility in Leflore County. Greenwood Police Chief Henry Purnell
says 26-year-old Derek Criddle was fatally stabbed
during a fight in a housing pod Wednesday. He was serving 25 years for an
armed robbery in Grenada County. Six other inmates were injured. Purnell says
the investigation is continuing.
July 7, 2011 AP
Corrections Corp. of America says one inmate is dead and two others remain
hospitalized after a disturbance at Delta Correctional Facility in Leflore
County. Nashville-based CCA spokesman Steve Owen told The Associated Press
that six inmates were hurt Wednesday night at the privately-run prison. He
says one was treated at the prison while five others were taken to nearby
hospitals. He says three of those five have been returned to the prison. CCA
officials said in a statement that the fight began at about 6:35 p.m. inside
a housing pod as inmates returned from supper. CAA says guards quickly broke
up the fight. One inmate was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not
been released.
December 1, 2010 Tennessean
Two cousins involved in the near-fatal shooting of a Metro Police officer
after a Mississippi prison escape were sentenced Wednesday morning to decades
in prison. Joseph Jackson Jr. was sentenced to 45 years in prison and
Courtney Logan to 31 years behind bars for the June 25, 2009, shooting of
Sgt. Mark Chesnut. Chesnut
stopped the cousins on Interstate 40 near Bellevue. Unbeknownst to him, Logan
had just helped Jackson escape from prison in Mississippi. While Chesnut checked their licenses, Jackson walked up and
shot Chesnut five times. The pair fled, but Chesnut was able to radio a distress call. Backup arrived
shortly thereafter and the cousins didn’t get far before being caught. Chesnut suffered grievous wounds in the shooting, but
survived and was even able to return to work at the police department on
light duty. His police cruiser had a video camera that caught much of the
encounter. Jackson pleaded guilty to attempted murder and two felony weapons
charges in the shooting. Logan was found guilty by a jury of attempted murder
and a weapons charge. Chesnut is also suing
Corrections Corporation of America, accusing the company of negligent conduct
that allowed Jackson to escape a medical appointment outside of prison. The
company has countered that the shooting was just part of the normal risks
associated with being a police officer. The civil case continues in Davidson
County Circuit Court.
September 22, 2010 AP
A jury on Wednesday convicted a Kentucky man of attempted first-degree murder
for his role in the shooting of a Nashville police officer. Jurors
deliberated for about four hours before finding 27-year-old Cortney Logan of
Louisville, Ky., guilty. Logan was accused of helping his cousin - Joseph
Jackson Jr. - escape from the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood,
Miss., in June 2009 while the prisoner was at a doctor's appointment.
Prosecutors said the pair were fleeing to Louisville when police Sgt. Mark Chesnut stopped their vehicle on Interstate 40 west of
Nashville because Logan was not wearing a seatbelt. Jackson shot Chesnut, who survived. Jackson, 32, pleaded guilty to
attempted murder earlier this week.
September 21, 2010 The Tennessean
Blood trickled from underneath Sgt. Mark Chesnut's
bulletproof vest as he sat alone in his patrol car on the side of Interstate
40 near Bellevue. He knew backup was on the way, but he needed help fast. So,
the 22-year police veteran coached himself through his own survival. His
hands cramped, but, dazed, he somehow reached for his radio. "I've been
shot, I've been shot," the father of three announced over the radio.
Monday, the 46-year-old began telling a seven-man, seven-woman jury how the
day unfolded on June 25, 2009 — when a traffic stop changed his life. His
testimony resumes at 9 a.m. today in Davidson County Criminal Court. Minutes
before jury selection began, Joseph Jackson Jr., 32, pleaded guilty to
attempted murder and two felony weapons charges stemming from Chesnut's shooting. He will be sentenced Nov. 11 by Judge
Seth Norman. Jackson was to be a co-defendant with his cousin, 27-year-old
Courtney Logan, who also is charged in the June 2009 shooting. He also has
one felony weapons charge. Logan, of Louisville, Ky., is accused of helping
Jackson escape from a Mississippi prison earlier that day and driving through
Nashville on his way to Kentucky when he was stopped for not wearing a seat
belt. Chesnut was driving the unmarked patrol car
that pulled him over. Assistant District Attorney John Zimmermann told jurors
that both men were determined to kill and evade Chesnut
that day even though Jackson was the shooter. "The state has to prove
that Logan had the same mindset as Jackson," said defense lawyer David
Hopkins. Man in the back seat In a composed, methodical delivery, Chesnut testified that he stopped the dark-colored Dodge
Magnum driven by Logan, walked to the passenger side window, and asked for
his driver's license and vehicle registration. The car was a rental, Logan
told him, but he couldn't find the rental papers. Chesnut
asked Logan to exit the car, which he did. As Chesnut
walked to the back of the car to meet Logan, he noticed another man, in the
back seat. "Where did you rent the car?" Chesnut
asked. "Thrifty. Or maybe Alamo," Logan said. "Who's the guy
in the back?" Chesnut continued. "James
Gibbs," Logan said. Chesnut asked the man in
the back for his name. "Joseph Jackson," he replied. Then, the
officer saw a pair of handcuffs on the car's floorboard. He went to his
police car and called another officer for backup. "I've got a good
one," he told him. Shouts, shots, flight As he was checking Logan's
driver's license against crime databases, he noticed that Jackson had gotten
out of the car and was walking toward the police car's passenger-side window.
Jackson asked the sergeant if he would like his father's phone number to
verify the information. Chesnut said he would.
Jackson walked back to the Magnum and returned moments later. "I
remember he shouted something about wanting me dead and something about me
being white," Chesnut testified. "He
pulled his gun from his waistband and started shooting." Jackson walked
back to his car, with Logan in the driver's seat. "I remember seeing
blood squirting out of my shirt," he said. "I was sitting there,
trying to breathe, when I saw (Jackson) walking back toward my window.
"I just thought, 'Don't be paralyzed.' " Chesnut
said he somehow put one of his hands on the steering wheel and the other on
the gear shaft. He reversed his unmarked patrol car as Jackson and Logan
drove away. Jurors are expected today to see a video of the traffic stop and
shooting taken from the officer's dashboard camera. Chesnut
has not been able to return to work as a full-time patrol sergeant since the
shooting.
September 20, 2010 News Channel 5
The prosecution called Metro Sergeant Mark Chesnut
to the stand Monday afternoon in the trial of Courtney Logan. He is one of
two men charged with shooting Chesnut in 2009. The jury
was seated in the trial around 2 p.m. The other man charged, Joseph Jackson
Jr., pleaded guilty Monday morning to attempted first degree murder and two
lesser charges. Jackson shot Sergeant Mark Chesnut
during an I-40 traffic stop in June of 2009. Investigators said Chesnut had no idea when he pulled over the two men that
Courtney Logan had just helped Jackson, his cousin, escape from a prison in
Mississippi. While checking their licenses, Jackson walked up to Chesnut's police car and shot him. Police caught both
Jackson and Logan just a short time later. Jury selection for Logan's trial
began Monday morning. Jackson will be sentenced by Judge Seth Norman on
November 10. Chesnut has still not fully recovered
from his injuries. Sergeant Chesnut has also filed
a civil lawsuit against the Corrections Corporation America. The CCA
allegedly did not follow their rules allowing Logan to help Jackson escape.
February 15, 2010 Greenwood Commonwealth
Joseph Leon Jackson Jr., a former inmate at Delta Correctional Facility
who escaped from custody in June during a visit to a Greenwood optician’s
office, and his alleged accomplice will face trial on Sept. 20 in Nashville,
Tenn. Jackson and his cousin, Courtney Logan, were accused of shooting a
Nashville police officer during a traffic stop. The two are facing charges of
attempted murder and evading arrest for the June 25 shooting of Sgt. Mark Chesnut. Both pleaded not guilty in November and declared
they were indigent. A judge appointed defense attorneys to represent them. Chesnut, 44, has returned to light duty with the police
department since the shooting. Police say Chesnut
stopped the men on Interstate 40 near Bellevue, Tenn., hours after Logan
helped Jackon escape. Chestnut was shot five times
while checking the suspects’ driver’s licenses. Jackson, 30, and Logan, 25,
were caught a short time later after Chestnut backed his car away from the
shooters and radioed descriptions of the men and the car they were driving. Chesnut has also filed a civil suit against Corrections
Corporation of America, which operates the Delta Correctional Facility,
alleging the company failed to follow its own security policies and was
responsible for the shooting. CCA has denied liability in the shooting.
Chestnut is seeking $14 million and his wife, Michelle Chestnut is seeking
$2.5 million.
February 5, 2010 Greenwood Commonwealth
The Leflore County Jail is awaiting autopsy results for an inmate who
died Thursday in his cell. Eddie Moore, 43, 214 E. Percy St., did not respond
when called to eat at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sheriff Ricky Banks said. The
jail issued a medical alert and tried unsuccessfully to revive Moore. MedStat also responded and finally the coroner. The body
has been sent to Mississippi Mortuary Services in Jackson for an autopsy,
which Banks said is required for all inmates who die in jail. Moore had been
arrested about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and charged with public drunkenness,
public profanity and disturbing a family. Banks said Moore had been arrested
five times in the past year and a half on similar charges. “From what we know
about him, he has a history of seizures,” Banks said. “He’s been in and out
of here a good bit.” A nurse checked Moore when he entered jail Wednesday and
said he was quite drunk but did not have any other apparent symptoms,
according to the sheriff. Banks said corrections officers said when Moore
came in he was typically drunk and would sleep for quite a while. He had been
counted in several bed checks but was not called upon to respond until the chow
call, Banks said. Moore was alone in a two-bunk cell, Banks said. Corrections
Corp. of America contracts with Leflore County to run its jail. CCA also
operates the state-owned Delta Correctional Facility at the same location on
Baldwin Road. Banks said it was the first death of a prisoner at the jail
since the facility moved from the courthouse in 2004.
February 5, 2010 Greenwood
Commonwealth
The Leflore County Jail is awaiting autopsy results for an inmate who
died Thursday in his cell. Eddie Moore, 43, 214 E. Percy St., did not respond
when called to eat at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sheriff Ricky Banks said. The
jail issued a medical alert and tried unsuccessfully to revive Moore. MedStat also responded and finally the coroner. The body
has been sent to Mississippi Mortuary Services in Jackson for an autopsy,
which Banks said is required for all inmates who die in jail. Moore had been
arrested about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and charged with public drunkenness,
public profanity and disturbing a family. Banks said Moore had been arrested
five times in the past year and a half on similar charges. “From what we know
about him, he has a history of seizures,” Banks said. “He’s been in and out
of here a good bit.” A nurse checked Moore when he entered jail Wednesday and
said he was quite drunk but did not have any other apparent symptoms,
according to the sheriff. Banks said corrections officers said when Moore
came in he was typically drunk and would sleep for quite a while. He had been
counted in several bed checks but was not called upon to respond until the
chow call, Banks said. Moore was alone in a two-bunk cell, Banks said.
Corrections Corp. of America contracts with Leflore County to run its jail.
CCA also operates the state-owned Delta Correctional Facility at the same
location on Baldwin Road. Banks said it was the first death of a prisoner at
the jail since the facility moved from the courthouse in 2004.
January 22, 2010 Tennessean
A jury will decide the fate of two men accused of shooting a Metro police
officer during a traffic stop last summer. The trial of Joseph Jackson Jr.
and Courtney Logan has been scheduled for Sept. 20, Judge Seth Norman said.
The pair did not appear in court on Thursday for the short hearing.
"Typically when all the attorneys are going to do is set a date, both
sides have already decided they're going to trial," Davidson County
District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Niland said. "The hearing only takes
about 30 seconds at the most." Jackson and Logan are accused of attempted
murder and evading arrest in connection with the June 25 shooting of Metro
police Sgt. Mark Chesnut. The men entered pleas of
not guilty to the charges in November. Both declared that they were indigent,
and a judge appointed defense attorneys to represent them. Chesnut, 44, is still recovering and has returned to
light duty with the Metro police department. On the day of the shooting
police say Chesnut stopped the men on Interstate 40
near Bellevue just hours after Logan helped Jackson, his cousin, escape from
a prison in Mississippi run by the Corrections Corporation of America. While Chesnut was checking their licenses, according to police,
Jackson walked up to the car and shot Chesnut, who
suffered life-threatening injuries. Chesnut was
shot five times. Jackson, 30, and Logan, 25, were caught a short time later
after Chesnut backed his car away from the shooters
and radioed in descriptions of the men and the car they were driving. Chesnut, a 22-year police veteran, has since filed a
civil suit against CCA, alleging the company failed to follow its own
security policies and was responsible for the shooting. Chesnut
is seeking $14 million and his wife, Michelle Chesnut,
is seeking $2.5 million.
December 9, 2009 Tennessean
The Corrections Corporation of America has responded to allegations that Sgt.
Mark Chesnut's shooting was because of its
negligence, saying that it wasn't reasonable to foresee that their escaped
prisoner would shoot him. What happened to Chesnut,
the private prison giant said in its response to the lawsuit, is part of the
risk inherent to being a police officer. Chesnut
filed suit in October, alleging that Nashville-based CCA's negligence
contributed to him being shot multiple times. Joseph Jackson Jr., who was
serving a life sentence at a CCA-operated prison in Greenwood, Miss., and his
cousin Courtney Logan have been charged with attempted murder in the
shooting. David Raybin, Nashville attorney
representing Chesnut, declined to comment on the
response. CCA spokesman Steve Owen also declined to comment. Jackson had
escaped from prison hours earlier — with the help of Logan — after Logan
showed up armed to Jackson's off-site doctor's appointment, police say. Chesnut alleged in the suit, filed by Raybin,
that Jackson was told in advance about the appointment and had access to cell
phones to arrange the escape. CCA denied in the court filings that Jackson
was told in advance about his doctor's appointment by a prison nurse or that
he had access to a cell phone. They also denied that the armed guard went for
her cell phone instead of her gun, though they admitted that the gun and
phone were taken from her by Jackson and Logan. The company overall denied
that its actions caused Chesnut's shooting and said
the liability rests more with the two men charged. Chesnut,
who is still recovering, has returned to work on light duty.
November 10, 2009 WSMV
The two men accused of trying to kill a Metro police officer during a traffic
stop received public defenders at a Tuesday arraignment. Courtney Logan and
Joseph Jackson were in court, where attorneys entered not guilty pleas in
their defense. Investigators said Logan helped Jackson escape police custody
in Mississippi in June. When Sgt. Mark Chesnut
pulled the pair over for a traffic violation in west Nashville, Logan is
accused of grabbed a gun and shooting Chesnut
several times. Logan and Jackson both face charges of attempted first-degree
murder. Chesnut filed a lawsuit Oct. 30 against
Corrections Corporation of America for $14 million. CCA operates the prison
that held Jackson before his escape in June. According to the lawsuit,
Jackson was given two weeks advance notice of the appointment and was able to
access a cell phone to plan the escape with Logan. The weapon used to shoot Chesnut was taken from one of the CCA guards who
accompanied Jackson to the appointment. Chesnut's
attorney said the entire incident wouldn't have occurred if CCA hadn't been
negligent with its policies.
November 10, 2009 NewsChannel 5
The two men accused of critically injuring a Metro police officer during a
traffic stop have been scheduled to answer to the charges in court Tuesday.
Joseph Jackson and Courtney Logan will be arraigned Tuesday on attempted
first degree murder charges. Police said Jackson, an escaped inmate from
Mississippi, shot Sgt. Mark Chesnut several times
in June 2009 while the officer was sitting in his patrol car on Interstate 40
near Bellevue. Chestnut had just stopped the pair for a seatbelt violation. Chesnut has since returned to work following his
recovery. Chesnut also filed a $14 million lawsuit
against the Corrections Corporation of America, claiming they are responsible
for his injuries because Jackson escaped from custody under the supervision
of their guards at a doctor's appointment.
October 30, 2009 Tennessean
Sgt. Mark Chesnut, the Metro police officer shot by
an escaped prisoner in June has filed suit against the Corrections
Corporation of America, alleging the company is responsible for the failures
that led to the escape and subsequent shooting. Chesnut
was critically injured on June 25 when he was shot five times during a
traffic stop. Police later arrested Joseph Jackson, Jr., who escaped from
prison in Mississippi earlier that day, and his cousin Courtney Logan,
accused of helping Jackson escape, for the shooting. Chesnut
is still recovering from the injuries. CCA spokesman Steve Owen said the
company has not been served with the suit and is not in a position to
comment. According to the lawsuit, filed late Friday by Nashville attorney
David Raybin, the company was negligent in
following its own policies to prevent and respond to an escape. Chesnut is seeking $14 million from the Nashville-based
private corrections giant, and his wife, Michelle Chesnut,
is seeking an additional $2.5 million. “They give (Jackson) advanced warning,
the means to escape, they give him a gun and he’s out in a few hours shooting
a police officer,” Raybin said. “To me, it’s
foreseeable that any police officer who stopped these guys was in mortal
danger.” Jackson had two weeks notice that he was
going to an off-site doctor’s appointment and didn’t prevent him access from
cell phones that he used to plan his escape, the lawsuit said. The advance
notification was against the policies of CCA, which operated the Delta
Correctional Facility in Greenwood, Miss., where Jackson was held. Police
said that Logan entered the doctor’s office during the scheduled time to help
Jackson escape. Logan fired several shots into the ceiling, and ordered
everyone to get down. The lawsuit adds new details about the escape, saying
that Jackson, who was in prison for violent offenses and serving a life
sentence, was escorted by an armed female guard and two unarmed male guards.
When Logan pulled the gun, according to the lawsuit, the armed guard reached
not for her gun but for her cell phone. Jackson took the gun and the phone,
and the two fled toward Nashville. Just a few hours later, they were pulled
over by Chesnut. “For the few extra dollars it
might have cost this for-profit institution to have a house call, Sgt. Chesnut wouldn’t have eight bullets in him,” Raybin said. Chesnut was
running Logan’s driver’s license when Jackson walked back to talk to the
officer. He walked away, but came back and drew the gun he took from the CCA
guard, shooting Chesnut five times. Two bullets
lodged in his bulletproof vest, but he was struck by the other three. Despite
the injury, Chesnut threw the car into reverse when
the gunman returned and radioed in the shooting, giving a description of the
suspects and the car to officers that were looking for them within minutes.
They were arrested within hours by Metro police and taken into custody
without incident. “He radioed in not only to report own injury, but in hope
that other officers could stop these guys,” Raybin
said. “It’s about as heroic a thing as I’ve ever seen.” CCA was under heavy
criticism for security in February 2008, when Terrell Watson escaped from the
Metro Detention Facility in Nashville. When Watson was discovered missing,
jail employees notified authorities and put the jail on lockdown, and an
exhaustive search inside the prison and around the grounds went on for two
days. They didn’t file an escape warrant that would let other police agencies
know he was an escaped prisoner for two days. The internal procedure to
handle a possible escape dictates only that police should be notified, CCA
officials said at the time.
September 26, 2009 AP
An escaped inmate from a Mississippi prison and another man have been
indicted on attempted first-degree murder charges in the wounding of a
Nashville police officer during a traffic stop. Joseph Jackson, 29, the
escapee, and Cortney Logan, 25, of Louisville, Ky., were indicted by a Davidson
County grand jury in the June 25 shooting of Sgt. Mark Chesnut.
Chesnut, 44, was shot in the abdomen after he
pulled Jackson and Logan over along Interstate 40 west of downtown Nashville.
Chesnut has been in a rehabilitation center since
then and says he'd like to return to work. Jackson was serving a life
sentence at the Delta Correctional Facility for two aggravated robberies and
aggravated assault. According to Mississippi prison officials, Jackson
escaped earlier June 25 during a visit to an eye doctor in Greenwood, Miss.
Police have said Logan entered the office, fired a shot into the air and one
of them took a weapon from Jackson's guard.
September 9, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
Another violent incident involving a Delta Correctional Facility inmate
serving a life sentence has brought increased intensity to concerns about the
level of prisoner held there. Leflore County Supervisor Wayne Self said
during a board meeting Tuesday that an inmate assaulted a guard at the
medium-security Greenwood prison a couple of weeks ago. Accounts of the
altercation leaked out of the facility, and Self heard about it recently, he
said. He called for the Board of Supervisors to put standards in place for
Corrections Corp. of America, the private company that manages Delta
Correctional for the state. “I don’t think a life-sentence or
two-or-three-life-sentence person should be at that facility,” Self said. “I
just don’t think it’s safe out there — not only for a lot of the officers
that’s there, but I don’t think it’s safe for this community.” The
supervisors passed an order Aug. 24 requesting Chris Epps, who is the
Mississippi Department of Corrections commissioner, and CCA officials to
appear before it to explain how classification works at Delta Correctional. Self asked County Administrator Sam Abraham to get Epps
and CCA personnel to come to the next board meeting on Monday. Steve Owen,
director of marketing for Nashville-based CCA, said this morning that company
guards treat every inmate as potentially dangerous, regardless of
classification. “We train our folks to be extra safe and to be prepared,” he
said. Owen, a former corrections officer, said inmates classified as
minimum-security often pose a greater threat than those classified as
medium-security. “The sentence alone isn’t the only factor,” he said. The
June escape of Joseph Leon Jackson Jr. from a Greenwood eye doctor’s office
prompted the initial inquiry. Jackson, who was serving a life sentence at DCF
for armed robbery, later shot a Nashville, Tenn. police officer during a
traffic stop. He remains jailed in Tennessee along with Courtney Logan, his
cousin who helped spring him, on charges of attempted murder and possession
of a firearm by a felon. CCA officials have remained tight lipped regarding
the escape, but Epps told the Clarion-Ledger that Jackson used a cell phone
to craft his scheme. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is leading an
investigation. Self echoed comments made last week
by Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks that inmates who receive life sentences
have their status level reduced based on good behavior. “This is a serious
issue that’s going on out there at that facility that I think we need to try
to get our hands on before it goes too far,” Self said. District 2 Supervisor
Robert Moore asked Board Attorney Joyce Chiles to prepare advice on how the
county can influence its contract with Delta Correctional and the agreement
CCA has to manage the prison.
August 25, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
The Leflore County Board of Supervisors is asking the head of the state
Department of Corrections and the private company that runs Delta
Correctional Facility to appear before it and explain what classifications of
inmates are housed at the Greenwood prison. Supervisor Preston Ratliff said
the coordinated June escape of Joseph Leon Jackson Jr., who was serving a
life sentence for armed robbery, raised concerns that more dangerous
criminals are present than the specified medium security. “What happened in
Nashville could have easily happened in Greenwood,” Ratliff said, referring
to the Nashville police officer whom Jackson has admitted to shooting after
fleeing Mississippi. The board voted Monday to request an explanation from
MDOC Commissioner Christopher Epps and Corrections Corp. of America officials
from its Nashville headquarters. “It might be a good idea at some point for
them to come and address the local community and assure them that they done
closed the gate,” Supervisor Robert Moore said. “Couldn’t hurt, could it?”
The local CCA warden, Danny Scott, appeared before supervisors earlier this
month but provided few answers.
August 13, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
A man arrested in June for aggravated assault and possession of a firearm
by a convicted felon was inadvertently released from custody Monday, but his
mother later returned him to jail, Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said.
Cedric Gordon, 30, 505 Cypress Ave., was returned to the Leflore County Jail
around noon Tuesday, the sheriff said. Gordon, who goes by the street name
“Main Jones,” is the suspect in the June 16 shooting of Christopher Young in
the 200 block of Noel Street. In addition to aggravated assault and the
weapons charge, Gordon was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence on June
17. Banks said the mix-up on Gordon’s jail status started Monday when Gordon
was taken to Greenwood Municipal Court in connection with the domestic
violence charge. Once his case was heard, the court sent a fax ordering his
release from jail, the sheriff said. Corrections Corp. of America, which runs
the Leflore County Jail, released Gordon around 10:30 p.m. Monday, Banks
said. Banks said the slip-up could have been avoided if jailers had looked at
the docket before releasing Gordon and noticed the more serious charges still
pending against him. On Wednesday, Gordon was awaiting transfer to a
Mississippi Department of Corrections facility before his trial for
aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
August 4, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is in charge of finding out how an
inmate planned an escape from a Greenwood eye doctor’s office June 25,
according to Delta Correctional Facility’s warden. When asked Monday outside
a Leflore County Board of Supervisors meeting about the results of an
internal investigation into Joseph Leon Jackson Jr.’s escape, Warden Danny
Scott referred questions to MBI. Jackson, who was serving a life sentence at
DCF for armed robbery, was sprung by his cousin, Courtney Logan, from The Eye
Station on Park Avenue during a routine exam. Logan fired a shot into the
building’s ceiling and helped Jackson free himself from shackles. They fled
in a Dodge Magnum. Some five hours later, Nashville Police Sgt. Mark Chesnut was shot five times after making a traffic stop
of the vehicle. Jackson later admitted to the shooting, which was captured on
video from Chesnut’s cruiser. Jackson and Logan
face charges of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted
felon. Supervisor Preston Ratliff said Monday that citizens had voiced
concerns to him since the escape about the level of inmates housed at the
prison. After Scott told him Delta Correctional is a medium-custody facility,
Ratliff asked how that status is defined. Scott responded only that “in MDOC,
inmates are either minimum, medium or a higher custody level, and our inmates
that we receive from MDOC are medium custody inmates.” Ratliff then asked if
the length of convicts’ sentences had anything to do with classification.
Scott said inmates are assessed after they are sentenced. “When inmates are
classified, their length of sentence and their history of offenses is taken
into consideration,” he said. The prison is run by Nashville, Tenn.-based
Corrections Corp. of America (CCA). CCA officials were at the meeting to
amend their annual contract to house state prisoners. The money is routed
from the state through the county and requires supervisors’ approval. The
board approved increasing the daily charge per state prisoner from $32.07 to
$32.56 beginning Aug. 1. The rate change will not affect what the county pays
CCA, which also contracts to manage the Leflore County Jail. County
Administrator Sam Abraham said the county’s rate had already been increased
for next year.
July 14, 2009 Nashville City Paper
Moments after Metro Police Sgt. Mark Chesnut
was shot five times by an escaped Mississippi convict on June 25, accomplice
Cortney Logan smiled before getting into a rental car along with his cousin
and speeding away, according to police. “I’ve seen the video,” Metro Police
Chief Ronal Serpas said of the onboard video
camera, which captured virtually the entire traffic stop made by Chesnut on I-40 near Bellevue. “It’s disturbing. It’s
very disturbing that [Logan] could call himself a human with the face he
made.” Logan and alleged trigger man Joseph Jackson had their preliminary
hearings in General Sessions Court on Tuesday where Judge Leon Ruben
forwarded the case to the Davidson County Grand Jury. The pair stand charged
of attempted murder of a police officer. Chesnut remains
in stable condition and has been moved from Vanderbilt University Medical
Center to a rehabilitation facility. He is expected to make a full recovery,
according to Metro Police. It was Jackson who approached Chesnut
during the traffic stop while the 22-year police force veteran sat in his
unmarked car. According to Metro Detective Norris Tarkington, Jackson first
approached the car to see if there was another officer present and then
circled back a second time with a 38-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun.
Jackson then fired five shots at Chesnut. Two of
those shots were absorbed by protective body armor, but three hit Chesnut’s arm and abdomen area. Jackson dropped the gun
inside the police car and ran back to the rental car, which Logan had
allegedly rented to help his cousin escape from a Mississippi prison.
Tarkington said the video on Chesnut’s camera shows
Logan smiling and “almost laughing” before boarding the rental car and
driving away. Logan and Jackson were apprehended a short while later and are
being held in lieu of $3 million bond. During his testimony at the
preliminary hearing, Tarkington shed some light on Jackson’s escape from the
custody of prison guards employed by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation
of America. According to Tarkington’s testimony, Logan entered a Greenwood,
Mississippi optometrist office where Jackson was receiving care. Logan fired
two shots into the ceiling and demanded at gunpoint that a CCA guard remove
the handcuffs from Jackson. Logan then took one of the CCA guard’s weapon,
which was the Smith and Wesson gun used to shoot Chesnut.
Multiple investigations by state and local authorities in Mississippi
continue into Jackson’s escape from custody. Jackson was serving a life
sentence for robbery and aggravated assault.
June 28, 2009 Hattiesburg American
IT SOUNDED LIKE THE SCRIPT FROM HOLLYWOOD. But it was real. Here's the
scenario: Mississippi inmate Joseph Jackson, 29, serving a life sentence for
armed robbery and aggravated assault at the Delta Correctional Facility in
Greenwood, was taken to a Greenwood optometrist's office Thursday after he
had complained about having eye problems. Shortly after arriving at The Eye
Station guarded by at least three armed transportation officers, an armed man
walked into the office, fired his gun into the air and ordered everyone on
the floor. They grabbed one of the officer's guns and fled in a waiting car.
Witnesses said another person was in the car. Mississippi law enforcement
agencies began an intensive search for the men but Jackson and his
accomplices managed to leave the state and make their way to Tennessee. The
scene then shifted to Nashville, where the rental car in which Jackson and
Courtney R. Logan, 25, of Louisville, Ky., were in was stopped by Sgt. Mark Chesnut on Interstate 40 Thursday afternoon. Logan, who
was driving the car, was not wearing a seat belt. According to The Tennesseean newspaper in Nashville, while Chesnut, a 22-year police veteran, checked the license
plate on a computer, Jackson walked back to the officer's car and shot him
multiple time through the passenger window. He dropped the gun on Chesnut's front seat. It was described as a routine stop
that turned into something that was anything but routine. Chesnut
was shot in the abdomen. Jackson and Logan fled but were later cornered by
police and surrendered. Chesnut remained in
critical condition on Saturday. Nashville police later said that Jackson
confessed to shooting Chesnut because he
"didn't want to go back to prison." The incident raises some serious
questions, such as: How could the three armed transportation officers allow
Jackson's armed accomplice to get inside the optometrist's office? Why was
Jackson brought to a private optometrist instead of having an optometrist go
to the correctional facility? A prison spokesman said the transportation
procedure is under investigation. We would hope so. Prison officials need to
alter their procedures to ensure that the public and law enforcement
officials are not put at risk.
June 27, 2009 Greenwood Commonwealth
Police are continuing the search for a third suspect wanted in connection
with the freeing of an inmate from a Greenwood eye doctor’s office Thursday.
Joseph Jackson, 29, who was serving a life sentence for armed robbery and
aggravated assault at Delta Correctional Facility, and Courtney R. Logan, 25,
of Louisville, Ky., have been charged with attempted murder and weapons
charges in the case. The Tennessean reported Saturday that Jackson and Logan
are cousins. Jackson admitted to Nashville police Thursday night that he shot
Sgt. Mark Chesnut after Chesnut
pulled Logan over for not wearing his seat belt, according to a release
issued Friday by the Nashville Police Department. Chesnut,
who was wearing a Kevlar bullet-resistant vest, was struck at least once in
the abdomen. The Tennessean also reported that Logan attempted suicide early
Friday morning in his Nashville jail cell and is under a suicide watch.
Jackson has been charged with attempted murder, unlawful gun possession by a
convicted felon, being a fugitive from justice and theft of a correction
officer’s gun. His bond was set Friday at $3.36 million. Logan has been
charged with attempted murder and unlawful gun possession by a convicted
felon. His bail was set at $3.1 million. A hearing for the men is scheduled
for Wednesday. A third suspect, seen leaving in the car from The Eye Station,
has not been identified. Jackson was one of two inmates taken to office on
Thursday by three armed transportation officers who were employees of Delta
Correctional Facility. He had complained of an eye problem, according to
Carolyn McAdams, public information officer with Delta Correctional Facility.
While Jackson and the other inmate were waiting inside, a man armed with a
handgun came in and fired several rounds into the ceiling of the building and
then ordered everyone to get on the ground. Steve Owen, a spokesman for
Corrections Corporation of America in Nashville, Delta Correctional’s
parent company, told the Tennessean that inmates are taken off grounds for specialized
doctor visits because the prison’s medical facilities contain only basic
equipment. “For obvious reasons, protocol is that inmates are not notified of
such information until the day of the appointment, at which time they are
notified just enough in advance to get it cleared (and) dressed before being
transported,” Owen told the newspaper. “As far as we know right now,
everything that was done followed policy and procedure,” Owen told the
Tennessean. “Of course, all the circumstances and what might have contributed
to it (the escape) are under investigation right now.”
June 27, 2009 WZTV
Authorities say one of the men charged with shooting Sergeant Mark Chesnut tried to hang himself Friday with some string
from a laundry bag. Correctional Officers stopped Courtney Logan before he
was successful. "When a person comes in off the street with such a
violent act and charged with such a crime close to those of us in the
business, very, very proud of the way our folks handled it," said
Sheriff Daron Hall. Logan faces attempted murder charges along with Joseph
Jackson in Thursday's shooting along I-40 in Bellevue. Authorities say
Jackson shot Sergeant Chesnut multiple times in the
abdomen and arm after he pulled the pair over for a seatbelt violation. Chesnut remains in critical condition at Vanderbilt
Medical Center where a steady stream of officers continue to visit him. He's
expected to have surgery sometime in the next few days. "Mark was a
friend of mine and the prognosis sounds good and my thoughts and prayers
continue to be with them," said Captain Todd Henry. Chesnut
could not have known at the time he was pulling over two men police say are
wanted for serious crimes in Mississippi. Authorities say Logan busted
Jackson out of state custody during an optometrist visit. He was under the
supervision of three armed Corrections Corporation of America Guards at the
time. "It seems pretty obvious this was a well
conceived plan," said Spokesperson Steven Owen. "Come
storming in with a firearm and certainly by all accounts our officers
followed the policies as it relates to the transport itself and the reaction
under the circumstances."
June 26, 2009 WSMV
The company that operates the Mississippi prison where a man escaped and
later was arrested in the shooting of a Metro officer admits there was some
sort of breakdown that allowed Joseph Jackson to escape custody. Police and
prison officials are trying to determine how Jackson, and his suspected
accomplice, Courtney Logan hatched a daring plan that led to Jackson's escape
from custody and ultimately the shooting of Metro officer Sgt. Mark Chestnut
on Thursday. "Without a doubt, there is a breakdown somewhere. We
definitely want to determine where that is," said Steven Owen of
Corrections Corporation of America, the company that operates the Mississippi
prison that housed Jackson. Metro police said Jackson and Logan know each
other from living in Louisville, Ky. The Channel 4 I-Team obtained a list
from who has visited Jackson at the Delta Correctional Facility in Mississippi
where he was imprisoned. Logan's name doesn't show up as visitor or even an
approved visitor. Inmates are not allowed e-mail, and all mail, except for
legal documents, is read by prison staff. As for phone calls, how did Logan
know that Jackson would be at an eye doctor appointment to not only stage the
escape but have clothes ready for him to change into? "Without a doubt,
he knew how to be there. This was obviously a very elaborate plan that was
carried out," said Owen. This is not the first time a CCA inmate has
escaped from an outside medical unit. In fact, the last time it happened was
in Jackson, Tenn., in 2005. The escapee was caught and prison employees were
later disciplined. "When something like this happens, we try to learn
from it and take the appropriate steps to make sure it doesn't happen
again," said Owen. Metro police said the information about Jackson's
escape was entered into a national database of escaped inmates, but it was
unclear if a description of the car that the suspects were driving was sent
out. Both of the suspects' bonds have been set for more than $3 million.
Jackson was charged with attempted homicide of a police officer, gun charges
and for being a fugitive from justice. A hearing for the men was scheduled
for July 1.
June 25, 2009 Nashville City Paper
Metro police say two suspects — one an escapee from Mississippi — taken
into custody in the shooting of veteran officer Mark Chesnut
have lengthy criminal records. The two were arrested at Hermitage and
Fairfield avenues less than an hour after the incident. Joseph Jackson, 29,
who allegedly escaped from a private prison facility in Greenwood, Miss., was
serving a life term for armed robbery and aggravated assault. Officials say
his accomplice, Courtney Logan, stormed an eye doctor's office Thursday
morning and broke Jackson out of custody. Both men are from Louisville, Ky.
The pair took off in a black Dodge Magnum — the same kind of vehicle they
were driving when officer Chesnut was shot about
1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. "Courtney Logan essentially busted into
the office fired several shots in the roof, ceiling fan tile area, made
everyone get on the ground and freed Joseph Jackson from custody," said
Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas. Chesnut, 44, was driving an unmarked car as part of an
interstate highway traffic enforcement effort, Metro Police spokesperson Don
Aaron said, adding it is unclear why he stopped the vehicle. "These were
some dangerous, dangerous, dangerous people who cowardly attacked Sgt. Chesnut while he sat in his car running their license
plate," Serpas said. Chesnut,
a 22-year veteran of the Metro Police Department, was wearing body armor.
John Morris, director of Vanderbilt Medical Center's Trauma Division, said Chesnut was shot in the stomach, colon, gall bladder and
liver. "This is a life-threatening injury," said Morris. "He's
on the ventilator, he's on life support, but we're all very hopeful that
ultimately he will return home to his family and ultimately return to
work." Chesnut's wife and family had been on
vacation in Alabama and were airlifted to Nashville by a THP helicopter.
Police say Jackson will be charged with attempted murder, stealing a
Mississippi correction officer's gun, unlawful gun possession by a convicted
felon. Logan will be charged with attempted murder and unlawful gun
possession by a convicted felon. He had been convicted in Kentucky of
robbery, theft and evading police.
June 25, 2009 News Channel 5
Metro police have taken into custody the two suspects in the Metro Sgt. shooting,
arresting them at Hermitage Avenue and Fairfield Avenue. One of the suspects
was an escaped inmate from Mississippi. Joseph Jackson, 29-years-old, escaped
from a private prison facility in Greenwood, Mississippi. Jackson was serving
a life term for armed robbery and aggravated assault. He escaped Thursday
morning during a doctor's appointment. Officials there said an unknown
accomplice stormed the doctor's office and was able to free Jackson. The pair
took off in a black Dodge Magnum - the same kind of vehicle they were driving
when officer Chesnut was shot late Thursday
afternoon. Within an hour of Sergeant Mark Chesnut
being shot the suspects were chased down. The two men were escorted by
several patrol cars to the criminal justice center in Downtown Nashville for
questioning. They have not yet been charged, but police expect it will likely
be soon. Officers said both suspects are from Louisville and both have
criminal backgrounds.
February 22, 2007 WMC TV 5
A jailer at the Leflore County jail has been arrested and charged with
introducing contraband after money and marijuana was found in his mashed
potatoes. 37-year-old Robert Earl Hannon, a Corrections Corporation of
America jailer, was arrested over the weekend. Sheriff Ricky Banks says an
unknown woman brought Hannon's lunch to him. Upon examination, authorities
found 200 dollars and two ounces of marijuana inside his mashed potatoes.
Hannon was released on a 15-thousand dollar bond Tuesday. Hannon was arrested
by agents from the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics following an investigation
into how contraband is entering the facility. Investigators became suspicious
when Hannon made a statement that he didn't eat potatoes but had a large
portion delivered to him at the jail.
May 23, 2006 Greenwood Commonwealth
Leflore County has taken another step to comply with a federal court
order regarding prisoners in its jail. The Leflore County Board of
Supervisors will pay half of the additional cost of the construction of a
45-foot-long concrete wall at the combined Leflore County Jail and Delta
Correctional Facility complex on Baldwin Road. The wall will separate the
jail's inmates from the the inmates of the
privately-run prison, said Leflore County Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham. The
project will cost the county $1,850. Corrections Corporation of America,
which operates Delta Correctional Facility, will pay the other half,
according to Abraham.That's on top of about $27,140
that has already been spent on the wall jointly by the county and CCA.
Abraham said the county and CCA are awaiting bids for additional fencing
needed to complete the jail work. He said that in addition to complying with
requirements of the 1971 federal suit Gates v. Collier, which set guidelines
for county jails and state prisons, the work will conform to the state fire
code.
October 25, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
A new contract between Leflore County and Corrections Corporation of
America outlines plans for tighter security at the Leflore County Jail. The
Board of Supervisors renewed the agreement Monday after Willie Perkins, its
attorney, said he is comfortable with the contract. The contract calls for
upgrading the jail's security system, building management walls between each
cell block and extending the deadline for American Corrections Association
accreditation. The issue over accreditation was largely responsible for the
delay in contract renewal. Accreditation means the jail would meet national
criteria for safely operating a jail. The corrections company will pay the
annual $15,000 fee, but it ultimately cost the county with other increases.
In the earlier, one-year contract, the county asked for accreditation,
"within a reasonable amount of time." The correctional association
argued accreditation for a small jail would be a waste of taxpayer's money.
October 4, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
The contract between Corrections Corporation of America and Leflore County
continues to be pushed back after four months of negotiations. On Monday, The
Board of Supervisors approved another extension of the contract until Oct. 10
as the board attorney and CCA ironed out their differences. Within that
contract was a clause stipulating that the jail acquire accreditation by the
American Corrections Association, "within a reasonable amount of time."
Jeb Beasley, who represents the company, said to comply with accreditation
standards would cost much more than the annual $15,000.
September 28, 2005 ZWire
Corrections Corporation of America and the Leflore County Supervisors can't
seem to find a solution to the issue of national accreditation for the
Leflore County Jail. Supervisors want the question answered before they agree
on a new contract for CCA to operate the jail. Accreditation means the jail
would meet national standards established for operation of a jail, including
safety of prisoners and education of corrections officers. The American
Corrections Association would provide accreditation for the jail.
"Accreditation is a certificate that basically verifies you are staying
within the standards," said Jerry Parker, warden of the jail and its
neighbor, Delta Correctional Facility. But the jail's designation comes with
a $15,000 yearly fee, which CCA says would be better spent elsewhere. For
instance, said Parker, the 12-year-old indoor locks could be replaced for the
cost.
September 7, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
A representative of an architectural
firm has received the authority to negotiate with Malouf Construction over
the cost of the Leflore County Justice Center project. Also Tuesday, the
supervisors delayed a decision on whether to allow the removal of a clause in
the county jail's contract that requires accreditation by the American
Correctional Association. Jerry Parker, warden of Delta Correctional
Facility, which houses the jail, asked the board that the clause be removed.
Parker said that the jail adheres to the ACA standards already and that
removing the accreditation requirement would save $10,000 that could be used
to improve the jail. Improvements he suggested included an upgrade of the
security system and construction of an interior wall to separate pods.
Removing the requirement wouldn't change the way the facility operates,
Parker said. Plus, he added, jails of this size seldom are accredited anyway.
August 24, 2004 Greenwood Commonwealth
The Leflore County Board of Supervisors will likely consider raising taxes to
meet expenses relating to the operation of the new county jail, says Sam
Abraham, chancery clerk. "It is going to be hard not to suggest an
increase," Abraham told the the board Monday.
Abraham estimated the additional cost of the jail at $300,000 to
$400,000. "This is the cost for having a jail that is in
compliance. The county taxpayers are going to have a heavy burden unless
someone collects a lot of money from somewhere else. We're looking at ways to
collect additional money," Abraham said. The jail expenses run $25
per day per inmate as managed by the Corrections Corporation of America.
April 4, 2004 Greenwood Commonwealth
Prisoner rights attorney Ron Welch says he is tickled over the reopening of
Delta Correctional Facility. He is wondering, though, how Mississippi intends
to jam 950 inmates in a space designed for 780 and stay in compliance with a
federal court order that regulates prison conditions.
December 8, 2003 Greenwood Commonwealth
Delta Correctional Facility will be reopened, although what form it will take
is still uncertain, a Greenwood state legislator announced today.
"It will be reopened," said state Sen. Bunky Huggins, R-Greenwood,
a member and former chairman of the Corrections Committee. Huggins made the
remarks during the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce's annual
Legislative Review/Preview Meeting. Other state legislators at the meeting
were Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood; Rep. May Whittington, D-Schlater, and Rep. Bobby Howell, R-Kilmichael.
Delta Correctional Facility was closed in September 2002 at the direction of
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Its closing resulted in the loss of 204 jobs in the
county. Governor-elect Haley Barbour campaigned on a pledge to reopen the
prison. The Republican has claimed that the state could save money by moving
inmates out of state-owned facilities into private prisons and regional
jails.
May 7, 2003
The latest design for converting part of a now-vacant prison into a jail and
sheriff's department for Leflore County requires at least two major changes
left out of a cheaper plan proposed earlier by the state. Architects
and county supervisors agreed last week that the renovation of a portion of
1,000-bed the Delta Correctional Facility complex will require replacing the
entire lock system of Building F and overhauling at least 14 cells.
Those changes, plus repairs, account for the jump in price from $1.6 million
to the current $4 million, county officials say. The state prison,
which had been operated by a private company, closed last year and the
inmates were sent to other facilities. "The architect the state
sent down did what I would call a 'courtesy survey,"' said Board of
Supervisors President Robert Moore. "He didn't do any in-depth walk
through." In an August letter sent to state Corrections
Commissioner Chris Epps, Ocean Springs architect William V. Lack sized up
renovations to the facility for a county jail and construction of a new
sheriff's department at $1.6 million. However, that estimate was
"based on the assumption that all systems (mechanical, electrical,
plumbing, locks, etc.) are in working order and could be restored to like new
condition with minor effort," Lack wrote. (Clarion-Ledger)
March 6, 2003
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove on Wednesday signed a bill transferring part of the
Delta Correctional facility to Leflore County. The state shut down the
Delta prison last summer in an effort to downsize the state's prison
system. The conversion to county use is expected to cost $1.6 million,
as opposed to an estimated $6.5 million to build a facility. (The
Clarion Ledger)
November 6, 2002
Leflore County supervisors are negotiating with state officials to possibly
use former Delta correctional Facility as a county jail. Supervisors,
who toured the empty prison last week, voted Monday to move on an official
offer Gov. Ronnie Musgrove made last month to gibe
the county use of the facility. The Delta Correctional Facility closed
Oct.9. Musgrove cited a lack of funding because of his veto of the
Corrections Department budget for private prisons when he closed the private
prison that once housed more than 800 inmates and employed 200 workers.
(Clarion Ledger)
October 11, 2002
With Gov. Ronnie Musgrove determined not to use the $54.7 million
appropriated for private prisons, state corrections officials are dipping
into money meant for regional jails, medical care and other obligations to
pay those bills. Mississippi Department of Corrections confirmed that
last week they transferred a $23 million second allotment, scheduled to be
spent starting Jan. 1, on those other services and contractual obligations,
to allow private prisons to begin receiving the money. The governor has
frozen the private prisons funds pending the appeal, said Lee Ann Mayo,
spokeswoman for Musgrove. "I know that (MDOC) will continue to
fill their contractual obligations," she said. (Clarion Ledger)
October 10, 2002
As Delta Correctional Facility prepared to close Wednesday, training officer
Danny Fairley took out his camera to snap one last picture. "I
want you to say one word, and don't choke when you say it-- Musgrove,"
Fairley said to 23 remaining workers and two inmates at the private
prison. "And that is for the record," he told a
Clarion-Ledger reported as the others, who were eating their lunch,
laughed. Such was the mood on a rainy, gray day as the last of the CCA
employees railed against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove for closing the prison.
Delta Warden Don Grant said he can't believe that state will let the 1,000
bed facility remain empty. Musgrove said Delta was closed because the
state has too many prison beds and that the state's resources need to go to education and jobs. "Philosophically, I
don't believe in creating jobs based on having people commit more
crimes," Musgrove said. "That is not the direction we should
take in our state. "Delta's last 50 prisoners got into vans and buses
Wednesday bound for Parchman, South Mississippi
Correctional Institute and regional jails in Carroll, Holmes, Winston,
Stone, Leake and Jefferson counties. Epps
said there is a chance Leflore County could reopen part of the Delta facility
instead of building a county jail. Leflore County is under a court
order to relieve overcrowding with a new 150-bed jail by July 2004 and had
been looking at building a $6 million facility. (Clarion Ledger)
October 4, 2002
Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove says closing Delta Correctional Facility is part of a plan
to shrink the state corrections system and invest more in education - a
transfer that will eventually replace the prison jobs and others
leaving Leflore County. Musgrove, speaking Tuesday
at the WIN Job Center in Greenwood, asked business leaders, elected
officials and citizens to band together to create positive
economic development. The prison industry is not part of that picture.
"I don't believe
philosophically in creating jobs based on having people commit
more crimes," Musgrove said. Still, with the prison's closure
compounded by the loss of jobs at Irvin Automotive and Uniek Inc., the state needs to do more, said state Sen.
David Jordan. "I feel that special consideration
ought to be given to the poorest region of the state of
Mississippi," he said. "I agree with you; it shouldn't be built
on the backs of prisoners. But that's all we could get." Prior to the meeting,
Musgrove accused the Legislature of taking money away from
education and funneling it into prisons at a time when the national crime
rate is down. He referred to his veto of legislation in 2001 that would
have added 1,000 more prison beds. "While we already had too many prison
beds, the Legislature was still trying to build more." He estimated savings of
about $4 million to result from Delta Correctional's
closure and the renegotiation of other private prison contracts. That
will happen, he said, as the state Department of Corrections
continues to reduce its incarceration costs, which have been cut
about $1,500 per prisoner a year. (Clarion Ledger)
September 20, 2002
Delta Correctional Facility in greenwood will lay off 59 workers today as the
private prison heads toward closure next month. The layoffs follow
inmate reductions from 843 to 412 since Sept.9. The staff had numbered
192, but will now fall to 67 at the prison in Greenwood, which is already
experiencing job losses. The entire facility is expected to be empty by
Oct.9. State officials are closing the facility because there's no need
for a medium-security prison in the system at the moment, said Chris Epps,
acting corrections commissioner. Total savings for closing Delta for 18
months could be close to $1 million Epps said. That dispute aside,
Musgrove still has authority to close the Delta facility since the prison
didn't have a requisite number of guaranteed inmates after June 30, according
to its contract. Steven Owen, spokesman for Nashville-based
Correctional Corp. of America, said his company will operate the prison in an
exemplary manner until the final inmates leave. Owen has heard that
MDOC has plans to reopen Delta, but he does not know if CCA will be
involved. (Clarion Ledger)
September 16, 2002
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court could mean the
state's private prisons may go months without being paid. Musgrove is
appealing a Sept.3 ruling by Coahoma Circuit Judge William Willard that found
Musgrove's partial veto of a $54.7 million appropriation for private prisons
was invalid. Musgrove maintains the money was obliterated by his
partial veto. And if the governor authorizes spending any of the $54.7
million in private prison funds Willard ruled as appropriated, Musgrove's
Supreme Court appeal likely is moot. Legislatures say they will not
consider another private prison appropriation in the special session that
began Sept.6 - a session Musgrove had originally called expressly to seek
passage of his $48 million private prison package. Money coming from
other budget sources in the Mississippi Department of Corrections for private
prisons will run out in the next few months, officials say. Steven Owen,a spokesman for
Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America, which runs Delta, said his
company will be paid according to contract. The state could have
effectively closed Delta without canceling its contract. Delta is not
guaranteed any inmates by contract after June 30, 2002, so the state can
withdraw inmates until there are none remaining. (Clarion Ledger)
September 6, 2002
House and senate leaders say they won't bring a prison spending bill up for
consideration, killing one of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's top wishes in a special
legislative session. Musgrove targeted Delta Correctional Facility in
Leflore County for closure as he renegotiated contracts with five privately managed
prisons. He wanted lawmakers to cut the appropriations to the private
prisons from $54.7 million to $48.6 million to match the contracts
renegotiated with Corrections Corporation of America and Wackenhut.
State corrections officials say Mississippi's prison system has too many
medium-custody beds like those at Delta Correctional. Musgrove had
asked lawmakers to back his decision by cutting spending to the private
facilities. Earlier this week, a chancery judge ruled that Musgrove had
unconstitutionally vetoed part of a prison spending bill in the spring.
Because the veto was invalid, money is available to operate private prisons,
the judge said. Atty. Gen. Mike Moore has said Musgrove can close the
Delta facility without any legislation. MDOC officials told members of
the House Penitentiary Committee that the shutdown of the facility is going
ahead. "There's no reason to have those beds filled when it's not
necessary," Rick McCarty, deputy corrections commissioner for
administration and finance, said Thursday. McCarty said the state owns
the facility and will keep some employees on hand to make sure utilities
continue to operate. (Go Memphis.com)
September 5, 2002
Mississippi Department of Corrections officials are going ahead with the
transfer of inmates out of the privately run Delta Correctional Facility in
Leflore County. Coahoma County Chancery Judge William Willard ruled
Tuesday that Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's partial veto in April of the $54.7
million budgeted for private prisons was unconstitutional. Willard siad the contract between Delta Correctional and the MDOC
was still in force. A one-year provision in the contract that
guaranteed a minimum of 843 inmates expired June 30. Delta Correctional
authority officials are hoping lawmakers will reinstate the guarantee during
the special session of the Legislature that begins today. State Sen.
David Jordan (D-Greenwood) said that was unlikely because Musgrove controls
the agenda of a special session. :Unless the
governor has a change of heart about the facility then there's not much
anyone else can do," Jordan said. Willard did not bar MDOC from
transferring state inmates to other facilities. MDOC spokesman Jennifer
Griffin on Wednesday said the agency was proceeding with its plans to move
inmates. The prison is operated by Corrections Corp. of America (CCA)
of Nashville. (Go Memphis.com)
September 4, 2002
A judge ruled Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's partial veto of funding for private
prisons, ruling a contract with a prison the governor had targeted for
closure remains in force. Musgrove said he would appeal Tuesday's
ruling. But he backed off an ultimatum that he would hold up debate on
medical lawsuit reform at Thursday's special legislative session unless
lawmakers pass an alternative prison appropriation. The Legislature
never tried to override the veto because state Attorney General Mike Moore
advised that it was not valid. On Tuesday, Coahoma County Judge William
Willard ruled in a breach of contract suit by the Delta correctional Facility
Authority that the money set aside by the Legislature remains in the
budget. The governor, however, still maintains legislators need to pass
a new $48.7 million appropriation for the private prison. Moore called
the situation "nonsense." "The appropriation bill reads
that up to $54.7 million may be spent for private prisons," Moore
said. "Since $48 million is less than $54 million, spend that
amount. Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, said the vote isn't
necessary. "They need to look at what it really costs to close
Delta," Jordan said. "Epps testified that the state could not
house inmates as cheaply as Delta, so why close it?" But Musgrove
still has the authority to close Delta because the contract does not provide
for a minimum number of inmates after June 30, 2002. The state also
could have negotiated lower per-diems for prisoners above 500, which Musgrove
did, without canceling contracts, according to contract terms. During a
press conference Tuesday, Moore passed out letters from the Department of Corrections
to Walnut Grove Youth Facility and East Mississippi Correctional Facility
that indicated such transactions were under way in May, before contracts were
cancelled at the end of June. (Clarion Ledger)
September 3, 2002
As lawmakers prepare to convene in a special session Thursday, they're
keeping on an eye on today's expected court ruling on whether Gov. Ronnie
Musgrove had the right to partially veto a prison appropriations bill.
Judge William Willard is expected to rule today whether Musgrove's partial
veto of a $54.7 million private prison appropriation bill is valid.
Legislators did not override the veto during this year's general session
after receiving an opinion from Attorney General Mike Moore that the veto was
invalid. But Musgrove insists the veto is valid, and he renegotiated
four private prison contracts and cancelled one with the Delta Correctional
Facility in Greenwood, which he plans to close, at least temporarily.
The governor is putting a proposed $48.6 million private prison appropriations
bill at the top of the special session agenda beginning Thursday. In
testimony during the hearing in Willard's court, now acting Corrections
Commissioner Chris Epps acknowledged the contract allowed for MDOC to
renegotiate lower rates for more than 500 inmates at private prisons without
canceling contracts. In addition, MDOC has had the power since June 30
to withdraw prisoners without a contract cancellation. State Sen.
Willie Simmons said even if the judge rules the veto invalid, lawmakers
should look at changing the prison legislation to free up the $6 million in
renegotiated contracts. If they don't, then the $6 million in saving
could only be spent with the Department of Corrections and not other agencies that may need the money, said Simmons,
D-Cleveland. "We still have some work to do, in my opinion, even
if the judge rules it is not a legitimate veto," Simmons said.
(Clarion Ledger)
August 30, 2002
Mississippi Department of Corrections officials say they are working on a
transfer plan for the 794 inmates now housed at a private prison in Leflore
County. Deputy Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said he does not
expect the prison to complete the shutdown process by the original target
date of Sept. 20. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove
and the MDOC are involved in a court fight over closing the Delta
Correctional Facility in Greenwood. Delta Correctional administration
have said that so far about 40 of the 200 employees at Delta Correctional
have been offered jobs at state facilities. (Clarion Ledger)
August 27, 2002
A Coahoma County judge says a ruling on a motion in a lawsuit filed against
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove cannot legally stop the governor from effectively
shutting down a private prison in Greenwood. A lawsuit was filed to
keep the prison open by the Delta Correctional Authority, which operates the
private prison. Willard said any ruling he makes about the validity of
Musgrove's partial veto is irrelevant to the fate of the Delta Correctional
Facility. The state's contract with the private prison still allows
Musgrove to remove as many prisoners as he wants, Willard said.
"If I rule that Governor Musgrove acted improperly, all that would do
would be to re-implement the contract," Willard said. "And
the governor and the Department of Corrections could do whatever they deem
fit as long as it's within the terms of the contract. "
(AP)
August 27, 2002
The clock is ticking on the fierce battle over the closure of Delta
Correctional Facility. Judge William Willard Monday set a noon Friday
deadline for final filings he will use to reach a decision by Sept. 3 on a
breach of contract suit against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and the state Department
of Corrections. That deadline was set over objections from attorney
John Maxey, representing Musgrove and MDOC, but at the insistence of Attorney
General Mike Moore. Moore, intervening for the state, accused Musgrove
of setting special session for Sept. 5 so legislators would not have a court
decision on the validity of Musgrove's closing of Delta after canceling its
contract due to a lack of funds. Willard must decide if Musgrove's
partial veto of a $54.7 million private prison appropriation bill is
valid. Musgrove upheld its validity, declared the money unappropriated
and canceled the contract of Delta and four other private prisons. The
governor renegotiated lower future rates with four prisons, but set Delta for
closure by Sept.20. (Clarion Ledger)
August 24, 2002
Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove is calling lawmakers into special session Sept.
5 to address rising medical malpractice premiums and general
civil justice reform — but he says they can't take
up those issues unless they pass his private prison appropriation
bill first.
The
move prompted an angered Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck to accuse the
governor of playing games, while House Speaker Tim Ford said he
was "bewildered." Musgrove said Friday he is
asking legislators to pass a $48.6 million appropriation bill
for the state's private prison contracts during the special
session — the same bill that failed to pass during last month's
special session. Only if he is able to sign that
bill will he expand the session to include the issue of medical
malpractice premiums for doctors who can't find or afford insurance.
"It's absolutely
essential to deal with the first issue before we get to the
second issue," Musgrove said at a news conference at Mississippi
Blood Services, where he donated blood. Ford said
there was no guarantee the private prison appropriations bill
would pass the House, where it failed 44 to 71 during the last
special session. The Senate passed the bill 34 to 14.
"I'm certainly not opposed to that bill, but the members
obviously voted against it," he said. But House Penitentiary
Chairman Bennett Malone, who voted against the bill last month,
said he's prepared to support it now. He said he sent a letter
to other House members urging them to do the same. The governor, who says the
veto remains valid, then canceled five prison contracts,
stating a lack of appropriated funds. He re-negotiated four contracts
at lower rates for additional inmates and set the Delta Correctional
Facility for closure. The dispute has since been taken to court.
A hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday in
Coahoma County on a lawsuit filed by the Leflore County Prison
Authority to keep the Delta prison open. Musgrove said Friday that
the private prisons are currently not being paid. Musgrove has said closing
the Delta prison and renegotiating the contracts will yield
a $6 million savings. Of that savings, however, $5 million is
one-time money derived by purchasing a surety bond to prevent the
state from making a bond payment on the prison. The money
will have to be repaid in the future. But House Judiciary B
Committee Chairman Ed Blackmon, also a member of the tort
reform committee, said he has no problem with Musgrove's plan.
"The governor has
limited powers in this state and he's using what limited powers
he has," said Blackmon, D-Canton. "And I don't criticize
him for that." (Clarion Ledger)
August 23, 2002
A
hearing set for today in Clarksdale on a lawsuit against Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove and the state Department of Corrections over the
planned closure of a private prison has been delayed as
state officials seek to resolve the dispute out of court. Judge William G. Willard,
who was appointed to hear the Delta Prison Authority's breach
of contract claim over the closing of Delta Correctional
Facility after Leflore County Chancery judges recused themselves,
granted a continuance Thursday until 9:30 a.m. Monday.
That could give officials
more time to work out a compromise. Attorneys held a conference
call with Willard on Thursday and more talks are planned
today. (Clarion Ledger)
August 22, 2002
Attorney
General Mike Moore has asked a judge to rule that the state
Department of Corrections doesn't have the authority to
cancel a contract with a private prison in Greenwood. Moore filed the court
motion Wednesday, just two days before a judge is set to hear
a breach of contract suit filed against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and
the Department of Corrections by the Delta Prison Authority.
Moore said he still hopes
the case is settled out of court. The motion was filed in Leflore
County Chancery Court, but the case will be heard in Clarksdale.
The attorney general
contends Musgrove's veto of a provision earmarking up to $54
million for private prisons is void. Arguing the money was no
longer available, Musgrove renegotiated cheaper contracts
with four private prisons and ordered the closure of Delta
Correctional Facility in Greenwood. (Clarion Ledger)
August 14, 2002
Sen. Rob Smith, D-Richland, said Epps is willing to take the job despite
three lawsuits facing the department and the fact Musgrove has just one year
left in his term. The state faces lawsuits from the Leflore County
Prison Authority over the scheduled Sept.20 closing of Delta Correctional
Facility and suits from prisoners' right attorney Ron Welch and the American
Civil Liberties Union over prison conditions. "Anyone who came in
from the outside could find themselves on the street after a year if the
governor is not re-elected or has a change of heart," Smith said.
"Epps could provide continuity." South Mississippi Correctional
Institute in Leakesville received American Correctional Association
accreditation in May, with Parchman and Central
Mississippi Correctional Facility to follow by October.
"Accreditation makes our facility safer for inmates, guards and the
public," Epps said. "There are hundreds of standards that
must be met." (The Clarion Ledger)
August 13, 2002
Johnson's last day on the $85,000-a-year job is Aug,30. His departure
comes as he and Musgrove are embroiled in legal battles as well as a
stand-off with the state Legislature over closing the Delta Correctional
Facility in Greenwood. The governor also renegotiated lower per-inmate,
per-day rates with four private prisons in efforts to save the state
money. State prisoner rights attorney Ron Welch said leading the
Corrections Department "takes a lot of skill politically,
administratively and intuitively." Welch is asking a federal court
in Greenville to prevent MDOC from closing the Delta prison and to rule the
Musgrove's April veto of a $54.7 million appropriation bill for private prisons
is invalid. Welch said he hopes the governor appoints a new
commissioner from within the department who would be familiar with the issues
it faces. (The Clarion Ledger)
August 7, 2002
An Aug.14 trial date has been set for a lawsuit seeking a halt to the closing
of a private prison in Leflore County. The Delta Correctional
Authority, a five-member board that oversees Delta Correctional Facility,
filed the lawsuit in chancery court after Gov. Ronnie Musgrove announced
plans to close the facility. The authority says it never received a
certified letter from the state providing notification of the impending
closure. The letter is required by state law, according to the
lawsuit. The governor's plan also would be a breach of contract, said
Edgar Bland, chairman of the Delta Correctional Authority board of
directors. Musgrove attempted this year to veto $54.7 million for
private prison contracts. The governor declared the private prison
contracts void July 1 because lawmakers did not override his veto, and he
said the money was left unappropriated. The governor then re-negotiated
lower per-prisoner, per-day rates with four private prisons and moved to
close the delta Facility. Prisoner rights attorney Ron Welch also has
filed a lawsuit against Musgrove to keep Delta Correctional open. (The
Clarion Ledger)
August 1, 2002
State
prisoners' rights attorney Ron Welch said he is resorting to
"sabotage" against the Mississippi Department of
Corrections and Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Welch, whose filing to
reopen the Gates vs. Collier federal lawsuit on prison overcrowding
was in the media Tuesday the morning lawmakers defeated a reduced
funding bill for private prisons, laughed when told Musgrove's
attorney, Peyton Prospere, considered
his timing "like sabotage." "That is exactly what
it was," Welch said. "I am proud he recognized
it." A
second motion Welch sent Wednesday to federal court in
Greenville seeks to prevent MDOC from closing Delta Correctional
Facility in Greenwood and asks for a declaratory
judgment that Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's April veto of a $54.7
million appropriation bill for private prisons is invalid.
But Attorney General Mike
Moore, who would have to defend the state against such
a declaratory judgment, says the veto is partial and invalid because
it included only a provision to prevent Corrections Commissioner
Robert Johnson from moving money to other areas of the
budget. Johnson,
incensed at Welch's newest court filing, says the state will
seek sanctions against the prisoners' rights attorney. "It is frivolous and
has nothing to do with Gates vs. Collier," he said.
"We have paid him $678,000 in the last five years to sue us.
"I don't know if he
wants to get his name in the news or is just trying to have a
record earnings year, but I am beginning to doubt his motives."
"We are asking the
court to make (the state) prove that shutting down Delta will
not have a negative impact on prisoners," he said of Wednesday's
motion. "It is my duty to look after their well-being, yet
the state did not tell me about closing Delta until
the last minute." (The Clarion Ledger)
July 31, 2002
Mississippi lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a proposal to reshuffle the state's
prison budget to match Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's plans to close a 1,000 bed,
privately run prison in the Delta. While the Senate approved a
reduction in the state's $233 million prison budget by $6 million, a
coalition of Delta, black and even some Republican lawmakers in the House
blocked the proposal with a 64-51 vote. Their actions capped a one-day,
three-issue special session called by the governor. But the impasse
over the state's prison budget-specifically a section that deals with prisons
run for the state by contract with private companies-immediately raised the
specter of litigation and/or another special session as early as this
fall. "It's unfortunate that a majority un
the House choose to fund private prison beds that aren't needed,"
Musgrove said. In 2001, the governor vetoed efforts to build still more
privately run prisons. And critics have complained for years that new
prisons were increasingly being viewed by local officials as a toll for
economic development. As the 2002 legislative session concluded, the
governor vetoed part of the state's $233 million prison budget that pertained
to private prisons. Specifically, he vetoed a provision that prevented
him form transferring $54 million appropriated for
privately run prisons to fund beds at state-run institutions. Based on
his belief that his veto stood, the governor terminated contracts with
Wackenhut and Corrections Corporation of America to run five prisons.
He negotiated new contracts his administration claims will save $6 million
this year. Part of those savings comes from plans to close, beginning
next month, the 1,000-bed medium security Delta Correctional Facility in
Leflore County, run by Corrections Corporation of America. By the end
of the day Tuesday, Atty, Gen. Mike Moore confirmed that the governor had
authority to re-negotiate private prisons contracts and even to close the
Delta Correctional Facility. (GoMemphis)
August 30, 2002
The governor's special session is quickly approaching and, by some accounts,
is becoming less about issues and more about a political quagmire.
While lawmakers mull over medical malpractice proposals, saying he should be
prepared to take the blame if tort reform is not addressed. Musgrove
said the prison bill needs to be passed because the state Department of
Corrections has no spending authority, and he is using his right to steer the
agenda for the special session. "The governor has the
constitutional authority to expand the call whenever he deems
appropriate," said Musgrove spokeswoman Lee Ann Mayo. During the
general session, Musgrove vetoed the MDOC budget set-aside for private
prisons. Legislators did not seek to override the veto because Attorney
General Mike Moore said it was invalid. The governor, who says the veto
remains valid, the canceled five prison contracts stating a lack of
appropriated funds. He renegotiated four contracts at lower rates for
additional inmates and set the Delta Correctional Facility for closure.
Musgrove has said closing the prison and renegotiating the contracts would
save $6 million. (Clarion Ledger)
July 31, 2002
Mississippi is in possible legal jeopardy after legislators Tuesday voted
down a Department of Corrections appropriations bill state officials said
would save $6 million in 2003, officials said. The 71-44 vote in the
house against the bill to reduce private prison funding from $54.7 million to
$48.7 million was seen by some as a backlash against Gov. Ronnie Musgrove,
who cancelled five contracts July 1, renegotiated four and moved to close
Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood by Sept.20. House speaker Tim
Ford, D-Baldwyn, who voted for the bill, said the vote could result in legal
action against the state because legislators refused to validate Musgrove's
negotiations. Moore agreed. "The state could be sued,"
he said. "We have had calls...from private prison operators.
The setback will not prevent Musgrove from closing Delta or from going
forward on the renegotiated per-diem rates, but the Mississippi Department of
Corrections must pay for private prisons with other revenues.
"It's unfortunate that the majority of the members of the House chose to
fund beds we don't need versus saving $6 million for the people of
Mississippi," said Musgrove, who lobbied the Senate to turn a 25-20 vote
against the bill to a 24-14 approval before the house action.
"They voted against the $6 million, against appropriating money for
private prisons and the opportunity to operate more efficiently by putting
inmates in appropriate beds." (The Clarion Ledger)
July 27, 2002
Renegotiation
of the state's private prison contracts will save taxpayers $9
million and increase efficiency in the Mississippi Department
of Corrections, officials said Friday. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who
cancelled contracts at the state's private prisons July
1, said successful bargaining with private prison operators has
assured the best use of public dollars. Corrections
Commissioner Robert Johnson confirmed MDOC's intentions to
close Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood by Sept.
20 and send more inmates to four other private facilities at a
reduced cost. Musgrove wants legislators attending
a special session Tuesday to approve a private
prison appropriation of $6 million less than the $54.7 million
appropriated in April. The governor said $3 million of the
savings will be realized in 2004. Rep. Bennett
Malone, D-Carthage, who chairs the House Penitentiary Committee,
says he believes Musgrove's plan will work. But the MDOC had
recruiters at Delta on Friday to talk with prison staff employed
by CCA about state employment. (The Clarion Ledger)
July 26, 2002
Mississippi
prison officials will close Greenwood's Delta Correctional
Facility by Sept. 20. Warden Don Grant told The
Clarion-Ledger on Thursday that he received a letter
from the Mississippi Department of Corrections this week
detailing closure plans for the 1,000-bed facility. But Corrections
Commissioner Robert Johnson said Thursday that closing the
facility, operated by Corrections Corporation of America,
is part of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's efforts to save the state at
least $6 million. Musgrove began renegotiating private
prison management contracts after voiding the pacts
June 28. He said he could do so because the Legislature failed to
override his April 9 veto of a $54.7 million private prison
appropriation.
Closing
Delta "will address the excess of medium-security beds in
the system," said Johnson of the state's 2,600 empty prison
beds. "It
will give us the opportunity to redistribute prisoners based on
our needs." (The Clarion Ledger)
July 25, 2002
State
Department of Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson said
Wednesday the state is considering closing Greenwood's Delta
Correctional Facility, one possible outcome of the
governor's efforts to renegotiate private prison contracts.
"It's on the table,
certainly," Johnson said. Johnson gave few details, but said he
hoped Gov. Ronnie Musgrove would announce soon, if
not today, the results of negotiations he has held with private
prisons. Musgrove has said that renegotiating the contracts
would save Mississippi taxpayers between $6 million and $12
million in 2003, and plans to call a special session
to address the issue. "I think things will make more
sense when that announcement comes out," Johnson
said. (Clarion Ledger)
July 22, 2002
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is apparently weighing his options about the state
taking over the operation of Delta Correctional Facility, said state Sen.
David Jordan, D-Greenwood. As recently as Thursday, Musgrove had told
Jordan of his intention for the state to take over the 1,000 bed
facility. Jordan told the Greenwood voters league Wednesday night the
governor is likely waiting to see what state Attorney General Mike Moore is
going to do in response to a termination letter that was sent to the six privately
run prisons. Jordan, president of the Voters League, was joined at the
league's meeting by Don Grant, Delta Correctional's
warden and Phillip McLaurin and Jacquelyn Banks, the facility's assistant
warden. Many of those in attendance at the meeting were Delta
Correctional employees who came dressed in their Corrections Corporation of
America uniforms. A showdown between the Legislature and Musgrove over
the six privately run prisons in the state started when Johnson sent the
letters terminating contracts with the prisons effective July 1. The Attorney
General has said Musgrove cannot end the contracts summarily. Musgrove
has claimed he wants to trim the budget for the private prisons by $6 million
to $12 million by taking over the private prisons, he said. "If
they come in and take this facility over, how are they going to save money,
when their employees get 5.7 percent more in salaries than we do? I'm
not a rocket scientist and don't claim to be one, but I can add two and two
and it equals four", Grant said. (Greenwood Commonwealth)
July 19, 2002
Corrections Corporation of America said yesterday that its contract to manage
a Mississippi prison has been terminated. Mississippi ended the contract for
the Nashville-based company to manage the 1,016-bed Delta Correctional
Facility in Greenwood, as part of a move to return privately operated prisons
in Mississippi to state control. (Tennessean)
July 14, 2002
State
Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, says he met with Gov. Ronnie Musgrove about
the prison last week and the takeover is a "foregone conclusion."
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove plans
to announce this week a state takeover of Delta Correctional
Facility, according to state Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood. The plan would save jobs of
employees there and open 150 beds for Leflore County inmates,
Jordan said.
"We
are negotiating with the private prison companies, and as soon as we complete
the negotiations a public announcement will be made," said John Sewell,
a spokesman for the Governor's Office. Musgrove has canceled all
contracts with private prisons, saying he can save Mississippi
$6 million to $12 million. The Mississippi Department of Corrections
is working with a $19.2 million shortfall. Jordan's announcement clashes with an
MDOC order, which came in April, barring the county from using
beds at Delta Correctional. A medium security prison, Delta
Correctional does not have the capacity to house inmates convicted
of violent crimes or awaiting trial. Supervisors had looked into
converting the prison into a jail facility, a transformation
that would save time and money compared with building a new jail. At this point, the prospect
of the county using Delta Correctional brings up a number of
questions. "I'm not really sure who would manage it," said Abraham,
who posed the idea to supervisors earlier this year. "Would state manage it
or would we manage it? Would we be guaranteed those beds forever
or for two years? There are a lot of questions." And the county is running
out of time to look for answers. (The Tennessean)
July 8, 2002
Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove's attempt Monday to cancel state contracts with five privately-run
prisons has left a Leflore County state legislator looking for answers.
State Sen. Bunky Huggins,
R-Greenwood, said he has been discussing the situation with
state Attorney General Mike Moore among others. Musgrove's actions, he
said, were irresponsible because they unnecessarily put the
public at risk and gave the Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of
America, the company that runs DCF, little assurance it would be paid for
continuing to operate the prison. Huggins said Musgrove did
guarantee later that the prison companies would be paid for
their services. The governor also has suggested bringing the existing
private prison guard force in as state employees through an executive
order, Huggins said. (Common Wealth)
East Mississippi Correctional Facility
Meridian, Mississippi
MTC (formerly run by GEO Group)
MDOC Sticks with Private Prisons: Jackson
Free Press, June 13, 2012. MDOC chooses MTC to take over where GEO
failed. What are they smoking?
Oct
5, 2021 meridianstar.com
Inmate had inside help with escape
A
Mississippi inmate, serving 15 sentences of life without parole, received
inside help making his escape, an investigation by the state Department of
Corrections has determined. On Sept. 10, Garnett Hughes, 33, who pleaded
guilty in 2014 to a host of charges that included kidnapping, sexual battery,
armed robbery, assault on a law enforcement and escape, broke away from two
correctional officers who had escorted him from East Mississippi Correctional
Facility in Meridian to his mother's funeral in Belzoni, more than 150 miles
away. The investigation has determined he was allowed to attend the funeral,
despite the fact the Mississippi Department of Corrections had stopped
allowing inmates to attend family funerals since the pandemic hit in early
2020. If that act didn't raise enough suspicions, Hughes' record did. He had
twice escaped from the Alcorn County Detention Center while awaiting trial.
In addition, the 6-foot-1 inmate had assaulted a law enforcement officer and
was found guilty of grand larceny, armed robbery and
burglary. Matthew Naidow, who worked as a sergeant
in security at the prison and has served as chief of security at other
prisons, said there is no way Hughes should have been approved for funeral
leave. "How do you let an inmate with two escapes, especially a lifer,
go like that?" he asked. "That's an automatic red flag."
Permission for a prisoner to attend a funeral requires top approval, he said.
"At a minimum, it would have to at least be approved by the deputy
warden of security." The investigation has determined that the deputy
warden okayed Hughes leaving the prison but failed to have MDOC sign off on
that decision. The deputy warden and three other staffers have been put on
administrative leave. The investigation has found other troublesome details.
Hughes reportedly hatched his plot behind bars through an illicit cellphone
that enabled him to call an Ohio woman more than 6,200 times in just two
months. Although officers had handcuffed Hughes, he was out of those cuffs by
the time they stopped for the funeral. (Authorities reportedly found a
handcuff key at the scene.) When officers opened the door of the vehicle,
Hughes bolted, and they were unable to catch him. After reaching a relative's
house, he was picked up by his Ohio girlfriend, the investigation found.
After a five-day manhunt, the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive
Task Force arrested Hughes in Akron, Ohio. He still had one handcuff attached
to his wrist. He is now incarcerated at the Central Mississippi Correctional
Facility in Rankin County. The task force also arrested Yvette Mendoza, 51,
identified as his girlfriend. She was charged with felony obstruction. East
Mississippi is a private prison run by Management & Training Corp. A
spokesman for MTC, Issa Arnita, said the company takes the escape "very
seriously. We are investigating and will make any necessary corrective
actions once the investigation is complete." MTC also operates the
Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, which is under investigation by the
Justice Department after an internal report surfaced that gangs were running
the prison. Three other prisons are under investigation as well after stories
by MCIR and the Marshall Project. In the wake of that investigation, prison
violence and litigation, Gov. Tate Reeves appointed Burl Cain in 2020 to reform
Mississippi's prison system, saying, "I have every intention of fixing
our problems." He said he put "absolute full confidence in Burl
Cain's abilities to change the culture at the Mississippi Department of
Corrections." Until Sept. 13, MTC also ran the 1,000-bed Marshall County
Correctional Facility. Earlier this year, MDOC began bolstering the staffing
there because of shortages. By contract, MTC was supposed to have a set
number of correctional officers and their supervisors on each shift, and when
a mandatory position wasn't filled, the company was supposed to repay the
state the wages, plus a 25% penalty. But the Marshall Project reported that
MTC hasn't been doing that at Marshall County or its other prisons, costing
Mississippi taxpayers millions. Since 2020, MTC has paid $540,721 in
penalties for Marshall County, $595,879 in penalties for Wilkinson and
$133,716 for East Mississippi for a total of $1.27 million. MDOC officials
are also investigating allegations of gang violence at Marshall County. On May
12, three inmates beat 40-year-old inmate Torrie Ellis to death. "The
inmates here not in gangs are tired of the gangs and corrupted staff,"
an inmate told MCIR. He asked not to be named for fear of retribution by the
gangs. "These inmates are the reason these things are happening,"
he said. "I hope something happens soon, because it's a time bomb
here."
Sep 15, 2021 clarionledger.com
Mississippi
inmate who escaped custody on the way to mother's funeral caught
900
miles away
A
Mississippi inmate who escaped from two guards while being escorted to his
mother's funeral was captured Tuesday morning about 900 miles away, according
to authorities. Garnett Hughes, 33, was still wearing one handcuff when
surprised by U.S. marshals and arrested following a five-day manhunt from
Mississippi to Ohio. Yvette Mendoza, 51, of Ohio, identified as Hughes'
girlfriend, was arrested for aiding in the wanted man's escape, according to
a Mississippi Department of Corrections news release. The 6-foot, one-inch
tall, 170-pound Hughes was convicted in Alcorn County in 2014 on two counts
of kidnapping and sexual battery. He is serving at least two life sentences
at East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Lauderdale County near Meridian.
Hughes, who has escaped corrections officers at least twice before, managed
to get away again about 9:30 a.m. Friday as he was being escorted from prison
by two guards to the funeral of his mother, Dorothy Mae Hughes, 54, in
Belzoni, Miss. In November 2014, Hughes and another inmate escaped from
Alcorn County Correctional Facility after overpowering a guard. Hughes also
escaped in June 2014 and was captured within eight hours. Hughes' attorney
for Hughes' 2014 sentencing, Clay Nails, said Friday he remembers Hughes well
as Hughes pleaded guilty to two life sentences. Nails said he has not spoken
to Hughes since the sentencing. Mississippi State Department of Corrections
Investigative Division Director John Hunt said the investigation into the
escape is ongoing. East Mississippi Correctional Facility is operated and
managed by private prison management firm Management Training Company, which
is based in Utah.
Jun
25, 2019
jacksonfreepress.com
Judge
Weighs Whether Mississippi Prison is ‘Excessively Harsh’
JACKSON,
Miss. (AP) — A federal judge sat through a monthlong trial last year over
conditions at a privately run Mississippi prison, but that wasn't enough for
him to make a decision on whether conditions are unconstitutional. Now Senior
U.S. District Judge William Barbour has dueling 80-page briefs to consider as
he tries to decide whether East Mississippi Correctional Facility is
excessively harsh, as a class action suit by prisoners alleges. The briefs
present starkly different views of conditions at the 1,200-bed prison near
Meridian, as well as sharp disagreement over what each side has proved and
what the legal standards should be for Barbour to make a
decision. The case, filed in 2013, had been seen as a key clash over
the use of private prisons nationwide, with the American Civil Liberties Union
and the Southern Poverty Law Center pouring resources into representing
prisoners. It twice made the front page of The New York Times with its claims
of Dickensian conditions including fires, long stretches in dim solitary
cells and untreated medical conditions in a place where a
majority of prisoners have been diagnosed with mental illness. Barbour
ordered the new briefs after touring the prison late in the trial and
concluding some conditions have improved. He asked both sides to discuss what
conditions are like now, as opposed to when the suit was filed. The
plaintiffs still allege that East Mississippi violates the U.S.
Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment in seven different
categories. That includes poor health care and mental health care, an
overreliance on solitary confinement and use of force by guards, and a
failure to keep prisoners adequately housed and fed and safe from assaults.
For example, when it comes to health care, the plaintiffs say each of six
prisoners who died in 2018 had "rampant" missed medications, and
the failures may have caused two of the deaths, disputing the state's claims
of improvements in making sure prisoners take their medicines. The state,
though, claims the plaintiffs have an outdated view of the prison, at times
sliding toward what seems to be a tacit admission that conditions used to be
unconstitutional but aren't any more. "Plaintiffs still refuse to
acknowledge any improvements to the management and operations of East
Mississippi Correctional Facility," Assistant Attorney General Krissy
Nobile wrote for the state . "Although
plaintiffs refuse to concede any of the claims that they pled six years ago,
the court does not need their concessions to see that the dire tale told by
plaintiffs simply does not match the reality of life at EMCF." But the
plaintiffs say they don't legally have to prove the conditions still exist,
instead arguing officials must prove that "not only that they have
actually voluntarily ceased the unconstitutional conduct, but also that it
'could not reasonably be expected to recur.'" They also say the state's
claims of improvement are not adequately backed up by evidence. In some
cases, the state says it doesn't have to prove that things are good, only
that it's trying to do its job and thus not legally indifferent. In other
places, the state argues that the legal standard for finding mistreatment is
high and that plaintiffs ignore "the level of discretion correctional
officials must be afforded" when they do things like shoot bursts of
pepper spray through food tray slots that inmates refuse to close, seeking to
force compliance. It's easy to feel the dispute slipping into obscurity as
the wait for judgment continues. Prisoners remain, though. Lead plaintiff
Jermaine Dockery is still behind bars at East Mississippi,and is scheduled to be in state custody
until 2026 on an armed robbery conviction.
Jan 19, 2019 clarionledger.com
Mississippi prison inmate dies in hanging
MERIDIAN, Miss. — An inmate in a privately-run Mississippi prison has
died after he was found hanged in his cell. Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton
Cobler tells news outlets that guards at East
Mississippi Correctional Facility found the 34-year-old man Thursday evening.
Guards tried to resuscitate the inmate before he was taken a hospital, where
he was pronounced dead. Cobler didn't immediately
identify the inmate. He says the inmate's body was taken to the state crime
lab in Pearl for an autopsy. The prison just west of Meridian is operated by
Utah-based Management and Training Corp.
Apr 10, 2018 usnews.com
Mississippi Prison Comes Under Fire During Federal Trial
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The state of Mississippi has "abandoned its
responsibility to provide basic needs" to inmates at a privately run
prison that is excessively violent and fails to provide proper medical care,
an attorney for the prisoners said Monday. The American Civil Liberties Union
and Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state over conditions at East
Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is home to 1,200 inmates, 80 percent
of whom have been diagnosed with a mental health problem. The Mississippi
Department of Corrections "receives report after report and does
nothing. That is the definition of deliberate indifference," plaintiffs'
attorney Erin Monju said in closing arguments.
Warden Frank Shaw testified during the five-week trial that the prison
follows protocol and the facility is no worse than any other. Attorneys for
the government defended the facility, including its regular use of solitary
confinement. "Coloring books and timeout isn't going to work for
criminals," defense attorney William Siler said. The prison, located
outside of Meridian, is operated under a contract with the Utah-based
Management and Training Corp. MTC is footing the bill of the legal defense
team, but lawyers are defending the state of Mississippi. Plaintiffs say the
state has been aware and complacent of the prison's unconstitutional
conditions. In a SPLC news release sent after Monday's closing arguments,
Jody Owens, SPLC's managing attorney for Mississippi, said the state's
Department of Corrections "allows this prison to fail at even the most
fundamental tasks." "The result is a place so dangerous and so
violent that it shocks corrections experts, yet the department keeps handing
taxpayer money to private companies to run the prison and its services,"
Owens said. The state's attorneys said the groups suing Mississippi have an
agenda and want to litigate private prisons out of business. "We need to
get out of their (MTC's) way and let them run their prison," Siler said.
Privately run prisons can be a political hot potato. Lawmakers often tout
their lowered costs and better performance than state-run facilities, but
opponents point to understaffing, health care cuts and a lack of
transparency. One of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' first orders in the
Trump administration was to reverse an Obama-era directive phasing out the
use of private prisons. It was perhaps an acknowledgement that the private
prisons may be needed given the administration's aggressive enforcement of
drug and immigration laws. Several inmates testified during the trial about
the conditions inside the prison. They described being jumped or shanked,
sometimes in their own cells, with little help from prison guards. Such
inmate violence, the warden said, is common. "It's the nature of
prisons," Shaw said. "It's the nature of the beast." But the
inmates' attorneys argued that the number of assaults at the prison is high
and the result of inadequate supervision because of the prison's
short-staffing. And they say guards abandon their posts and do not perform
their minimum job functions. Plaintiffs say this lack of supervision not only
results in inmate assaults, but also poses a risk in the case of medical emergency.
Plaintiffs say one inmate died this year after lying unconscious on the floor
of his cell amid his feces and urine, as other inmates banged on the housing
unit's door attempting to get medical assistance. Four other inmates have
died so far this year. Inmates regularly take extreme measures to get
officers' attention — lighting their cells on fire or cutting themselves and
reaching through their door's tray slot. In one video provided as evidence by
plaintiffs, guards did not respond to the scene of a cell fire until five
minutes after flames could be seen from outside of the cell. Inmate Terry
Beasley, who testified in March, said he has diabetes and can go into shock
and eventually die if his blood sugar drops too low. When asked by plaintiffs
how he feels knowing it can take guards minutes to respond in emergency
situations, Beasley began crying and said, "It's scary." Inmates
said they had seen cockroaches and mouse droppings throughout the facility,
particularly in the kitchen, and had to deal with sewage backing up into
cells and bathrooms. The warden blamed the plumbing problems on inmates.
"In most cases, when we have those issues, it's inmate related. They've
either flushed something down they shouldn't have or torn something up,"
Shaw said. U.S. District Judge William Barbour Jr. said he planned to take
"several days" to issue a written ruling.
Apr 4, 2018 motherjones.com
Mississippi Inmates’ Lawsuit Describes Violence and Neglect in a Private
Prison
“This is a trip back to the old days of prison conditions.”
Last August, when Terry Beasley and other inmates noticed a man had died
in his cell, they pounded on the window of their dayroom for at least 30
minutes. “Still wouldn’t nobody come on the zone,” Beasley recalled. Finally,
an officer opened the door to their housing area, allowing an inmate to slip
past and run to get help from the guard captain. Knowing how long it took to
get help in an emergency “made me feel kind of scared,” Beasley said,
“because I’m a diabetic, and you don’t know when my sugar might drop.”
Beasley described life inside the East Mississippi Correctional Facility
during the first week of a federal trial over conditions at the for-profit
state prison located 90 miles east of Jackson. EMCF is the state’s designated
facility for inmates with psychiatric needs, and around 80 percent of the
prison’s roughly 1,200 inmates have been diagnosed with a mental illness.
Five years ago, prisoners there sued the Mississippi Department of
Corrections, claiming that its top officials had failed to keep tabs on the
prison’s corporate operators and allowed dangerous conditions to go
unaddressed. The prisoners’ class-action lawsuit describes a crumbling
facility with broken locks on cell doors, frequent assaults by inmates, and a
critical shortage of guards and medical staff. “It’s more than inattention,
it’s outrageous neglect and callousness. They get almost no services.” “What
I’ve seen at East Mississippi Correction Facility, I have not seen for
decades,” said Elizabeth Alexander, one of 13 attorneys representing the
inmates. “This is a trip back to the old days of prison conditions.” The case
went to trial in March after multiple failed attempts to settle outside of
court, according to American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Carl Takei. It’s
being heard by US District Judge William H. Barbour, Jr., who will decide
whether the state has been “deliberately indifferent” to conditions at EMCF
that posed serious risk of harm to inmates. In their complaint, filed in
2013, prisoners claimed the state prison commissioner and other officials had
failed to hold the companies that run EMCF accountable for “grossly inhumane
conditions” that “cost many prisoners their health, and their limbs, their
eyesight, and even their lives.” The inmates’ original complaint told the
stories of multiple prisoners who lit fires to obtain emergency medical
attention. According to EMCF records, 1,217 inmates and 47 staff members were
injured by fires in 2016. In addition to Beasley’s testimony, deputy warden
Norris Hogans testified that as of February, inmates were still lighting
fires outside their cell doors three times a week. Hogans also testified
about fights that broke out on March 6, 2017, when the facility was supposed
to be on lockdown. All prisoners were supposed to be in their cells, yet
security footage shows more than a dozen inmates in two separate housing
areas milling around in common areas. In one pod, prisoners began fighting
with broom and mop handles; in the other, they kicked and beat a man and left
him lying on an elevated walkway. Guards did not enter either housing area
for around 30 minutes. Hogans said the prison did not investigate how so many
inmates were loose during the lockdown. According to the New York Times, when
the prison’s warden was asked if guards were able keep inmates in their
cells, he replied, “They do their best.” The inmates filed their case the
year before a corruption scandal swept through the highest levels of the
Mississippi Department of Corrections. In 2015, former state prison
Commissioner Chris Epps pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge after
distributing more than $800 million in contracts to prison companies while
receiving at least $1.4 million in bribes and kickbacks, mostly funneled
through a former state legislator to whom companies had paid thousands of
dollars in “consulting fees.” Those companies included Management and
Training Corporation, a Utah-based firm that received a contract from Epps in
2012 to operate EMCF, and Health Assurance, a vendor that provided medical
and mental health care at the facility between 2012 and 2015. Epps and his
accomplice went to prison, as did the part-owner of Health Assurance. MTC has
denied any wrongdoing and maintained that it had no knowledge that its
“consulting fees” would be used to illegally line Epps’
pockets; it’s currently fighting a lawsuit from the state attorney general
over its role in the scandal. EMCF’s medical services are now provided by a
correctional health care company called Centurion. The inmates
lawyers say little has improved at the facility since Epps stepped down.
Takei argues that many of the issues at East Mississippi Correction Facility
stem from chronic understaffing and the state’s failure to require MTC and
Centurion to hire more guards and medical professionals. “Staff was beyond
short,” one guard wrote in a log book last year that was entered into the
trial record. “No staff to conduct or do security check.” EMCF currently has
no full-time psychiatrist, despite having a mental health caseload of about
1,000 men. The Mississippi Department of Corrections, which pays MTC $26 per
day for each minimum-security inmate, denies that the prison is understaffed.
Understaffing is a common complaint at private prisons. Yet the situation at
EMCF is exacerbated by its prisoners’ mental health care needs. Some of the
most alarming testimony in the trial has come from one of the plaintiffs’
expert witnesses, Terry Kupers, a professor at the
Wright Institute in Berkeley, California, and a nationally recognized specialist
on solitary confinement. After investigating the prison’s segregation unit, Kupers testified that its conditions were the worst he
had ever seen. Jammed locks on cell doors left inmates free to roam and
attack others, and broken lights went unfixed, leaving inmates in darkness
for days. He found little record of mental health care examinations or
therapy. “It’s more than inattention, it’s just outrageous neglect and
callousness,” Kupers said in court. “They can’t get
light bulbs. They cannot get cleaning material. The damage from the fires is
not removed. The trash is not picked up. They get almost no services. They
can’t even get the attention of the officers.” Beasley worked as a porter in
the prison’s solitary confinement unit in 2016, cleaning the unit and
sometimes the cells. He testified that nearly every day, he saw prisoners who
had cut themselves stick their arms out of the food tray slots in their cell
doors, “blood just dropping everywhere.” Kupers’
investigation confirmed Beasley’s stories. “I’ve never seen this degree of
self-harm in a correctional setting,” Kupers
testified. He explained that many prisoners in solitary became stuck in a
cycle: They would attempt to escape isolation by cutting themselves so they
would be taken to the medical unit. There, they would get some relief, but
before long they would be back in isolation for a longer stay because
self-harm is a rule violation punishable by solitary confinement. “The people
with serious mental illness, I can say with a reasonable degree of medical
certainty their condition is going to worsen under these conditions,” Kupers said in court. “They are going to have worse
disability, and they’re going to have a much worse prognosis. And, God
forbid, they will [attempt] suicide to a larger than excusable proportion.”
While the inmates’ complaint details frequent suicide attempts, just one
inmate has died as the result of suicide since 2012—a fact emphasized by the
state’s lawyers. (There have been many other non-suicide deaths at the prison,
including four so far in 2018.) Throughout the case, the state has argued
that conditions at the prison are mostly acceptable and that the prison has
made good-faith attempts to fix its problems. “This is a prison; it’s not a
daycare center,” W. Thomas Siler Jr., a lawyer representing the state, said
in his opening argument. “Every prison everywhere, every expert is going to
say it’s got its share of problems.” The state’s legal team has also laid
responsibility at the feet of inmates, who it says “sabotage” the prison by
jamming locks, setting fires, and smuggling in contraband. “It’s just that
kind of thing, a constant effort of trying to stay ahead of the prisoners,
and stay ahead of what they’re doing to defeat whatever we’re doing to help
keep them safe,” Siler said. As evidence of the dire conditions at East
Mississippi Correction Facility has accumulated during the monthlong trial,
Judge Barbour has often appeared impatient with the inmates and their legal
team. He has urged prisoners not to “lollygag around” before they are
transported to court each morning and has admonished their lawyers for going
into too much detail about the poor conditions. “Suppose I tore up your pad
of questions. Could you question this witness? No,” the judge interrupted Eric
Balaban, another ACLU lawyer, after listening to Balaban question an expert
witness for several hours on March 22. “You’ve made your point. The mental
health in this prison is not good.” The trial is expected to conclude this
week, and Judge Barbour’s decision will follow in the coming weeks. If he
rules in the prisoners’ favor, he could force the Mississippi Department of
Corrections to develop a plan for addressing EMCF’s problems. If he sides
with the state, it will be up to prison officials to take action—leaving
prisoners like Terry Beasley waiting for relief.
Mar 22, 2018 clarionledger.com
Mississippi warden testifies on private prison conditions
A warden testified Tuesday that he saw reports that document what
plaintiffs argue are unconstitutionally abusive conditions at a Mississippi
state prison. The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law
Center are arguing that the state has been aware of dangerous conditions at
East Mississippi Correctional Facility. Defense attorneys, however, say the
conditions are acceptable, and that some prisoners' harm is self-inflicted.
Located near Meridian, the prison is privately operated under contract by
Utah-based Management and Training Corp. Warden Frank Shaw oversees the
day-to-day operations of the notoriously violent prison. Plaintiffs presented
evidence Tuesday of reports compiled by prison staff that document conditions
like inmate deaths and injuries and prison fires. Shaw testified that he sees
the reports before they are sent to the Mississippi Department of
Corrections. According to most recent reports presented by plaintiffs, 78
inmates were injured in June 2017. Four inmates have died so far in 2018, and
one remains in intensive care. When asked whether he considers this a large number of deaths in a year, Shaw said, "Every
corrections facility I've ever worked in has had a certain number of
deaths." Fires, qualified as major or minor, are also documented.
According to reports presented Tuesday, there were no fires over 11 months.
But several inmates have testified during the three weeks of the federal
trial that fires are started by inmates on a daily basis, and plaintiffs have
presented video evidence of such. Oftentimes, fires are started in cells to
get guards' attention. Shaw testified that inmate fires are not documented.
He said, "disaster fires" would be reported. When asked if he
considers fires started by inmates a "major problem," Shaw said no.
Video evidence of fires from 2016 and 2017 presented by prosecutors, he said,
is outdated. Plaintiffs also argued that much of the prison's violence can be
attributed to insufficient supervision. Several inmates have testified that
guards were not present during attacks or medical emergencies. Shaw testified
he is ultimately responsible for ensuring mandatory security posts at the
prison are filled "if at all possible." If guards leave their posts
while on duty, Shaw said they are disciplined "depending on how often it
happens and what the type of abandonment may be." In addition to the
reports, plaintiffs showed video evidence of several incidents involving
prison guards. In two incidents, they were standing back as an unrestrained
inmate assaulted another. Shaw said they did so to protect their own safety.
In other videos, guards used pepper spray to subdue inmates while they were
in their cells. The intention is to cause inmates pain, forcing them to
subdue. Pepper spray can irritate eyes and induce coughing. When asked if
cells are decontaminated after being sprayed before inmates are put back
inside, Shaw said there is not a "blanket policy on how to decontaminate
a cell." Sometimes a blower is used to air out the cell, and other
times, Shaw said keeping the cell door open is enough. Shaw is one of the
state's primary witnesses for the defense and will testify again once it
begins to make its case in the coming weeks.
Mar
15, 2018 jacksonfreepress.com
Sabotage, Death, Danger: Private Prison on Trial
JACKSON — Terry Beasley remembers a white guy locked in his cell in East
Mississippi Correctional Facility one night in 2017, dying. "He was
blue," Beasley, an inmate serving a life sentence for a homicide-murder
conviction, said in U.S. District Judge William Barbour's courtroom on
Friday, March 9. Some inmates started banging on their windows to try to get
the officers' attention, but it took more than an hour for officers to come
down to the man's cell from what he could tell from his own cell that night,
Beasley said. Eventually, medical staff and the captain came into the zone
and recovered the man's body."It made me feel
scared because I'm a diabetic, and you never know when your sugar (could)
drop," said Beasley, who is also asthmatic and diabetic. Beasley used to
clean out cells at the prison in Lauderdale County. On the stand, he
described life "in the zone" at one of Mississippi's three private
prisons in federal court. He testified that he misses his morning insulin
treatment "a lot" whenever the officer in the tower does not let
him out of his cell to go get the medication. The Southern Poverty Law
Center, the National Prison Project of the ACLU and two other law firms
brought a class-action lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of
Corrections back in 2013 due to conditions at EMCF. After the department
refused to settle twice, the case went to trial this month in what is
expected to be at least a month-long ordeal. Operated by the Utah-based
Management and Training Corporation since 2012, EMCF is one of three private
prisons in the state that MTC operates. MDOC is responsible for the facility
and stations a monitor there to track how the facility operates. More than 80
percent of the inmates there are on some type of mental-health medication or
treatment protocol. The lawsuit alleges that conditions at the prison violate
the Eighth Amendment rights of prisoners housed there. Attorneys must prove
in court that inmates receive "cruel and unusual punishment" as a
result of being housed there. The State of Mississippi hired two private law
firms to defend MDOC in the case. Their position is that the department is
not "deliberately indifferent" to the treatment of inmates at the
prison. In his opening statement, W. Thomas Siler Jr. encouraged Judge
Barbour to go see the facility for himself. He said EMCF has made great
strides and changed a lot since MTC took over the facility in 2012. "We
disagree with their conclusion that we're not adequately staffed," Siler
said, noting that many of the issues with the facility and with contraband
are "issues caused by sabotage by inmates." Attorneys defending the
state asked the judge to take anecdotal evidence with a grain of salt,
emphasizing that the focus of the case needs to be on whether or not the
state has violated the Eighth Amendment rights of prisoners. "Are any of
the issues they're complaining about current and ongoing?" Siler said.
Warden Frank Shaw, who runs the prison, is sitting in on the trial, and the
State plans to call him as a witness and use him to represent one of the
named defendants in the case. The lawsuit names Department of Corrections
Commissioner Pelicia Hall as well as Gloria Perry,
the chief medical officer at MDOC, and Archie Longley, the deputy
commissioner of institutions. Shaw is a Management and Training Corporation
employee, however. The private company is not a party to the lawsuit,
however. "The state is responsible for whether it's run properly, and
that's what at issue," Judge Barbour told the court last week. Inmates
wore black-and-white striped bottoms, chains around their waists jangling and
white tops with the words "MDOC INMATE" across the back. They sat
right across the room from the State's attorneys and Shaw. Attorneys
representing the prisoners plan to have at least two inmates in the courtroom
every day throughout the trial. They will call some of the prisoners as
witnesses as the trial unfolds. In the first week, the plaintiffs called nine
witnesses, beginning with Eldon Vail, a 35-year veteran corrections officer
and operator from Washington state. Vail visited the prison once in 2014 and
again in 2016 to evaluate the state of the prison, including safety, security
and staffing levels. "I concluded that it's a very dangerous
facility," Vail testified last week, saying that the "basics"
were missing. "There are not a sufficient number of correctional
officers, and most of their problems stem from that issue." Vail
reviewed thousands of documents and conducted interviews the plaintiffs'
attorneys arranged. He could not interview prison staff, however. MDOC keeps
a monitor at the Meridian private prison to report progress and inadequacies
at the facility. The weekly and monthly monitor reports confirmed and
reinforced his initial conclusion about the facility, he testified. "You
see the same kinds of issues occurring over and over again," he said.
Staffing concerns and who is responsible for what happens inside prison walls
came up repeatedly in testimony. The inmates who worked as porters in 2015
and 2016 cleaning cells testified to seeing fires daily and cleaning up blood
after inmates stuck their hands out of their cells' food slots or from
cutting themselves. The facility, like most prisons in the state, has a
contraband problem. In March 2017, visiting privileges at the prison were
suspended after back-to-back contraband shakedowns revealed that inmates were
posting on the Internet, presumably from contraband cell phones. "MDOC
officials searched a specific section of the facility after learning of an
inmate posting live on Facebook last weekend," a March 7, 2017, press
release from MDOC says. Attorneys representing the State said that a lot of
incidents—from fires to contraband cell phones to self-harm incidents—are the
inmates' fault. How far responsibility stretches to the State—and MTC's
employees by extension—to keep the facility in order is at the heart of the
case. Eddie Pugh, an inmate who sat in court all last week and testified
Friday, described an incident late last year when a new inmate came to his
housing unit. Correctional officers expected inmates to choose where the new
inmate would live, Pugh said, and when inmates refused to find him a place,
they were put on lockdown. "We were in the dark for three weeks; we were
forced into the cells at gunpoint," Pugh said in court last Friday. Pugh
told the court about how some inmates force others out of their cells and
have to sleep on the floor of other cells. "Do the gangs make that
decision?" Judge Barbour asked him. "To truly understand EMCF,
you'd have to be there more than one time...," Pugh responded. "Why
shouldn't every man have his own bed?" Barbour asked. "I agree with
you," Pugh said. "... Logic is not logic in this place." The
trial continues this week, as attorneys representing inmates have about
two-and-a-half more weeks of testimony to offer. Defendants will not take nearly
as long, Siler told the court.
Mar 14, 2018 clarionledger.com
Gangs 'running things' at private prison
After evidence in federal court Tuesday detailed problems with gang
members “running things” at the private East Mississippi Correctional
Facility, Mississippi’s contract monitor refused to discuss the matter on the
witness stand. After meeting with the monitor and lawyers, U.S. District
Judge William Barbour Jr. cited the sensitivity of the matter and ordered
reporters out of courtroom Tuesday morning for the rest of that testimony
because it involved inmates by name. In its lawsuit against Mississippi, the
American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center argue that the
state has been aware of East Mississippi Correctional Facility's
unconstitutionally abusive conditions. The state’s defense attorneys argue
the prison conditions are acceptable and that some of the prison’s ailments
can be attributed to inmates’ self-sabotage. In a May 5, 2015, email, Vernell
Thomas, who monitors the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near
Meridian, wrote that “several prisoners seem to be running things, even
though some are in (segregation) units," where inmates are supposed to
remain in their cells at least 22 hours a day. Thomas, who is an employee of
the Mississippi Department of Corrections, testified that was a problem then,
but not now. She reported repeatedly on problems of cleanliness in 2014 and
2015. In March 2015, the American Correctional Association gave a score of
100 to the prison, operated by Utah-based Management and Training Corp. (Epps
was a longtime ACA president.) “All units have improved with the cleaning due
to the ACA in March,” Thomas wrote in an email. Inmates have complained in
testimony about unsanitary conditions and health care services. About 80
percent of the 1,200 inmates at the facility are under some form of mental
health care. A Clarion Ledger series in 2014, “Hard Look at Hard Time,”
detailed the problems of corruption, violence against inmates and the power
of gangs inside the prisons. Then-Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps is now
serving just shy of 20 years in prison for running one of the largest and
longest criminal conspiracies in the state's history. Thomas used the word
gangs in a series of 2015 emails, complaining repeatedly to prison officials
about the unsolved problem. In a July 1, 2015, email, she wrote that gang
members were selling “drugs to offenders and staff is aware, but does
nothing.” When she visited the segregation unit, she saw an inmate, who had
been caught with cocaine, meth, marijuana, shanks and a sim card, outside his
cell, “working” the unit. She wrote that gang members and leaders assigned to
segregation units were being allowed to work outside those units
unsupervised. “These are 10 offenders who have been calling the shots/running
the offenders/staff here with the ability to move almost anywhere they want
to go,” she wrote in an Oct. 14, 2015, email. Until testimony was closed to
the media, she named the inmates, one by one, who were controlling each pod.
One inmate on the segregation unit “still runs things and staff,” she wrote.
“He even questions me.” When she removed a broom from the pod, she wrote he
replied, “You must not know who I am.” Another inmate, serving a life
sentence for murder, maintained “control even though he’s supposed to be
locked down constantly,” she wrote. Thomas wanted the gang members
transferred to other prisons. Other emails and reports by Thomas detailed
continuing problems with understaffing, cleanliness, lighting and leaving out
mops and broomsticks that could be used as weapons. "Staff are leaving
the pods unmanned," she wrote, later complaining, "When are we
going to correct this serious matter?" When visited the prison at 2 a.m.
on April 3, 2015, she found people missing from their posts, including no one
at the search desk. When she emailed Tony Compton, who oversees the private
prisons for the state Department of Corrections, he replied, "Amazing
what you find when they least expect you to come in." During her testimony,
Thomas struggled to come up with the minimum number of correctional officers
that the prison should have each shift.Barbour, who
will make the decision in the case, was puzzled, telling her, "I frankly
don't understand why you don't know what the exact count should be."
Plaintiffs’ lawyers asked Deputy Corrections Commissioner Jerry Williams
about EMCF’s staffing shortfalls (24 out of 30 of the day shifts lacking some
mandatory staff positions in November 2016). Defense lawyers challenged those
numbers, saying the numbers in the staffing reports weren’t actually correct.
“That leads me to believe the prison doesn’t know what they’re doing,” the
judge said. “I don’t understand why that is not accurate.” Defense lawyers
told the judge that just because no one is listed beside the mandatory
positions doesn’t mean the positions have gone unfilled. Williams was asked
about the problems of inmates jamming doors, sometimes getting out and
assaulting other inmates, which has happened at the private prison. Asked if
the Corrections Department had ever studied whether hardware should be
installed to stop that problem, Williams replied, “Not that I’m aware of.” Of
the 97 reports Thomas filed between 2014 and 2017, 88 cited the problem of
inmates covering up their doors and windows. Asked if it was a security risk
for the windows to be covered, she said yes and that she asked them to take
it down if she was inspecting, “and they put them right back up.” Asked if
one reason for keeping these windows clear would be to prevent rape, she
replied, “Anything can happen in prison.”
Mar 1, 2017 msnewsnow.com
Prison video shows contraband still a problem
JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) - Smuggling illegal contraband like
dangerous objects, drugs and cell phones into jails and prisons is a common
practice, and it's traded among prisoners. The underground railroad includes
prison guards, family members, and outside contacts. Kordero
Washington is at the East Mississippi Correctional facility run by MDOC . He was convicted of violent crimes; armed robbery,
aggravated assault, and receiving stolen property in Hinds County. His
tentative release date
May 2023. We found Kordero
Washington's Facebook page. Sunday, he shared Doughboi
Kaines live video that went public. Three inmates
are in the prison cell. One has a knee down on the floor. Another
unidentified inmate records himself on cell phone proclaiming "Anything for that white girl, look
at him y'all, no way. It's my turn. I
get my slap. I get at least one." What was apparently going down was a
willing prisoner allegedly taking a beating in exchange for drugs. One inmate
puts baby powder on his hand, the other holds up a bag saying they are about
to do a little routine, apparently for cocaine, called white girl.' The cell
phone video is laced with profanity, asking the inmate if he wants one
more. He holds up a broken tooth, then
he takes another hit to the face. Near the end of the video one prisoner says
to the man who was hit repeatedly and knocked to the floor, "Here's a
happy customer. The man replied, "I am very happy." Then more
laughter and the inmate who appears to be holding up a small bag of white
power looks into the cell phone and say "Real no mercy for real. no
mercy, ain't playing ain't playing." We sent the video post to the
Mississippi Department of Corrections. They responded with the following
statement: An investigation is under way regarding the video in question. The
Mississippi Department of Corrections and MTC, which operates the private
prison, have several measures in place to keep cell phones out of the hands
of inmates. With the use of K-9, scanners and other security measures, we are
aggressively pursuing contraband, including cell phones and illegal drugs
daily. When we receive a report such as this, the agency and MTC act swiftly
to investigate. Any inmate caught with a cell phone, drugs or any other
contraband faces not only loss of privileges but also additional criminal
charges that could result in additional prison time. This type of conduct is
not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
Sep 30, 2015 clarionledger.com
Inmates
OK’d to sue state over prison conditions
A
federal judge cleared the way Tuesday for inmates to bring their lawsuit
against a private Mississippi prison with conditions described as “barbaric.”
U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr. on Tuesday granted a request by
inmates represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU and attorney
Elizabeth Alexander to certify the class-action lawsuit against East
Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian. Jody Owens II, managing
attorney for the SPLC’s Mississippi office, called the decision “a major step
towards holding the state accountable and not allowing them to contract their
constitutional obligation away to support private prison conglomerates. This
ruling is a tremendous victory for a vulnerable class of individuals who have
endured unconscionable conditions far too long.” In court filings, plaintiffs
have described the private prison, which houses many suffering from mental illness,
as a facility where inmates are being mistreated, beaten and exploited by
gangs and others. The ligitation alleges there is
sex between officers and inmates, widespread contraband and weapons, a
“buddy” system where officers cover up the beatings of inmates and the
rehiring of former employees who used excessive force. In November 2012, the
president of Utah-based Management & Training Corp. toured the
institution and was quoted as saying “the living conditions were awful.” MTC
officials say they have made significant improvements since they took over
the prison in July 2012. Gabriel Eber, senior staff counsel for the ACLU
National Prison Project, called Tuesday’s decision “an important first
victory for our clients who’ve been suffering for years. We’re hoping we can
work with the state to resolve the litigation.” The lawsuit is following in
the steps of class-action litigation against the Walnut Grove Correctional
Facility and the State Penitentiary’s Death Row and Unit 32. Last year,
former Washington State Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail, an expert for the
plaintiffs, inspected EMCF and concluded it was “an extraordinarily dangerous
prison. All prisoners confined there are subjected on a daily basis to
significant risk of serious injury.” He visited where some prisoners were
kept in segregation, calling their conditions “barbaric,” especially to those
suffering from mental illness (more than 70 percent of the 1,200 inmates), he
wrote. “They are the worst I have ever seen in 35 years as a corrections
professional.” He said he found defects in basic security, cell doors that
wouldn't lock, a lack of staff training and worse. In his report, Vail
described “deep and systemic problems” known “at the highest levels of the
Mississippi Department of Corrections for a considerable period of time.
Those problems were identified and described over two years ago in a letter
from the ACLU to Defendant Christopher Epps. MDOC has failed to take
reasonable remedial measures and to put in place effective monitoring mechanisms
to end the degrading, dangerous, and abusive practices at the facility.” In
November, Epps stepped down as corrections commissioner, and he has since
pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges, reportedly receiving $2 million
in bribes and kickbacks in office. Grace Fisher, a spokeswoman for the state
Department of Corrections, said Tuesday that the issue here “is not about the
merits, but whether the cases should proceed as one or several, and the judge
has ruled that these issues should be tried as one suit. We look forward to
trying the case as one lawsuit on its merits in court.”
July 25, 2014 blog.gulflive.com
MERIDIAN, Mississippi -- Two inmates could face charges
after injuring three prison guards in a fight at East Mississippi
Correctional Facility. Issa Arnita, a spokesman for prison contractor
Management & Training Corp., says three guards were moving a prisoner to
solitary confinement Thursday when the fight began. After guards told the
prisoner to gather his belongings, Arnita says the prisoner stabbed one
officer in the back with a homemade knife. As two officers used pepper spray
to subdue that prisoner, another inmate stabbed a second officer in the back
and arm. A third officer's hand was cut. The officers were treated and
released from a Meridian hospital. Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said deputies are investigating, but declined
Friday to release inmate names. A 2013 lawsuit was filed over the prison's
conditions.
Jun
7, 2014 capecodonline.com
JACKSON,
Miss. -- Open fires sometimes burn unheeded in the solitary-confinement units
of the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a privately run state prison
in Meridian, 90 miles east of here. Inmates spend months in near-total
darkness. Illnesses go untreated. Dirt, feces and, occasionally, blood are
caked on the walls of cells. For years, the prison, the state's primary
facility for prisoners with mental illnesses, has been plagued by problems.
When a previous private operator, the GEO Group, left in 2012 after
complaints to the state about squalor and lack of medical treatment, hopes
rose that conditions would improve. But two years later, advocates for
inmates assert that little has changed under the current operator, Management
and Training Corp., a Utah-based company. Civil rights lawyers and medical
and mental health experts who toured the facility recently painted a picture
of an institution where violence is frequent, medical treatment substandard
or absent, and corruption common among corrections officers, who receive low
wages and minimal training. Photographs taken during the tour and obtained by
The New York Times showed charred door frames, broken light fixtures and
toilets, exposed electrical wires, and what advocates said were infected
wounds on prisoners' arms and legs, offering an unusual window into a prison
at the center of a legal controversy. “Photographs don't lie,“
said Margaret Winter, associate director of the American Civil Liberties
Union's National Prison Project, which joined with the Southern Poverty Law
Center to file suit a year ago over conditions at the prison. “I've been
doing this for more than 20 years, and I'm pretty convinced that there is
nothing out there that has been made public that is this shocking.“ The
Mississippi corrections commissioner, Christopher B. Epps, who won praise
several years ago for reducing the use of solitary confinement in the state,
and the other defendants have denied the lawsuit's allegations. Epps declined
to answer questions about the prison but said by email that conditions there
had “improved tremendously“ since Management and Training Corp., or MTC,
began running it. “I have toured the facility and have seen the improvements firsthand,“ he said. “We are committed to running a
constitutionally sound prison and look forward to communicating that point in
court.“ But current and former inmates described an atmosphere in which
prisoners lived in fear of attacks by gang members allowed to move freely
through prison units and were forced to beg for basic medical treatment. They
said some set fires - using contraband matches or loose wires, according to
advocates - to get the attention of guards, who sometimes ignored the flames,
simply allowing them to burn out. Christopher Lindsey, 28, who was released
from East Mississippi in July, said in an interview that he had gone blind
after months of not receiving appropriate treatment for the glaucoma he has
had since childhood. “I was crying in the cell, my eyes were hurting,
bloodshot red, and I was slowly losing my eyesight,“
he said. Willie Hughes, 49, who was released in December, said in an
interview that an infected sore on his leg had become gangrenous from neglect
while he was in prison, and that a doctor had told him after his release that
he narrowly escaped needing amputation. The 1,362-bed facility is one of five
private prisons in the state system; Mississippi, like other states, has
turned to private operators to cut costs. But advocacy groups that oppose the
trend say the for-profit companies often economize at the expense of inmate
and public safety. They point to private prisons in several states that have
had problems with violence, abuse or escapes that official reports attributed
to understaffing, lax security and poorly trained corrections officers. In a
deposition given in March to the lawyers for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit,
Matthew Naidow, a shift captain at East
Mississippi, said that conditions at the prison had improved since MTC took
over the contract from the GEO Group, but that low wages and high staff
turnover contributed to the persistence of security problems and corruption,
which he said were more prevalent than at other prisons where he had worked.
Correctional officers at the prison, he said, are paid around $10 an hour.
“If you're getting people off the streets from McDonald's,“ Naidow said, “you're going to have a long road ahead of
you to retain staff.“ Issa Arnita, a spokesman for MTC, said the company
could not comment because of the pending litigation. LaGrand
Elliot, senior vice president at Health Assurance, a Jackson-based company
hired to provide medical and psychiatric services for the prison, also
declined to comment. Dr. Terry Kupers, a
psychiatrist in Oakland, California, and an expert on the psychological
effects of solitary confinement, toured East Mississippi with the plaintiffs'
lawyers in late April. He said the mental health treatment he saw at the
prison was severely deficient. Inmates were given little therapy and had few
activities, and interviews with prisoners and a review of records indicated
that many were forcibly injected with Haldol, a tranquilizing antipsychotic
drug, even though “a lot of those people were not acutely psychotic at the time
of the injection,“ Kupers said. Record keeping was
spotty or nonexistent, with a “complete absence“ of
accurate diagnoses and no evidence of informed consent for treatment, Kupers said. Mental health exams were sometimes conducted
when inmates were asleep, and self-injurious behaviors like cutting were an
almost daily occurrence. Medical care was also deficient, with inmates
receiving delayed or inappropriate treatment, according to a medical expert
who reviewed inmate records and was not supposed to discuss them publicly
until a formal report was released. One patient had a documented history of a
slow-growing brain tumor, but the tumor was not included on his list of
medical problems at the prison. A nurse noted that the inmate had reported
having a brain tumor - the prisoner “has a wild story to tell,“
the nurse wrote - and ordered a muscle rub, ibuprofen and shampoo for him. At
the time of the review, the inmate had not been referred to a neurosurgeon,
the expert said. MTC, the third-largest private prison operator in the
country, runs 24 correctional institutions nationwide and holds the contracts
for three other prisons in Mississippi. Winter, the ACLU prison project
associate director, said the Mississippi Department of Corrections bore the
ultimate responsibility for the inmates at the East Mississippi prison. Epps,
the corrections commissioner, and other department officials are named as the
defendants in the lawsuit. A judge
will consider later this year whether to grant the plaintiffs class-action
status. Current and former inmates said security was also an issue. They said
corrections officers were complicit in or turned a blind eye to contraband
trading, and ignored inmate-on-inmate violence. Hughes, who served time for a
drug offense, said lockdowns were frequent, as were stabbings and fights.
Corrections officers, Hughes said, often kicked food trays out of the hands
of mentally ill inmates and did nothing to stop prisoners from roaming the
units or carrying on a brisk trade in cigarettes, whiskey, cellphones and
other commodities. “That was big money,“ he said. “They wasn't going to stop it.“ Hughes
said he was once sent on a cleanup detail to one of the solitary-confinement
units - known to inmates, according to the lawsuit, as the “dead man's zone“
or “dead area“ because corrections officers did not often go there. “Guys was throwing fire, setting trays on
fire, flooding the cells, and the guards were just sitting there like that's
normal, that's OK,“ he said.
05/30/2013
aclu.org
East
Mississippi Correctional Facility is hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and
dangerous. Patients with severe psychiatric disabilities go without basic
mental health care. Many prisoners attempt suicide. This video is the story
of a young man who succeeded. Privacy statement. This embed will serve
content from youtube.com. EMCF is a cesspool. Prisoners are underfed and
often held in rat-infested cells without working toilets or lights. The
prison is dangerously understaffed, and prisoners routinely set fires to attract
the attention of officers to respond to emergencies. Without sufficient staff
to protect prisoners, rapes, beatings, and stabbings are rampant. And some of
the most sadistic violence is inflicted on prisoners by security staff. EMCF
is supposed to provide intensive treatment to the state's prisoners with
severe psychiatric disabilities, but instead locks many in prolonged
long-term solitary confinement – often for years – and denies prisoners even
the most rudimentary mental health care services. Medical care is grossly
substandard. One prisoner is now legally blind after EMCF failed to provide
his glaucoma medications and take him to a specialist; another had part of
his finger amputated after he was stabbed and developed gangrene. The
Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), which ultimately bears
responsibility, has known about these conditions for years but failed to
protect the health and safety of prisoners. In 2012, the American Civil
Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center offered to pay for an
assessment of the system, but the Mississippi Department of Corrections
rejected the offer. Today, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern
Poverty Law Center, and the Law Offices of Elizabeth Alexander filed a
federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at EMCF. The conditions at EMCF are
blatantly unconstitutional and we fully expect to prevail in the lawsuit. We
hope that MDOC Commissioner Epps will meet us at the negotiating table very
soon to finally end the horrors and suffering at EMCF.
May
30, 2013 clarionledger.com
Mississippi’s
cash-strapped correctional system came under fire again this week with the filing
of a federal lawsuit claiming “barbaric conditions” at a prison for the
mentally ill. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law
Center filed the 83-page complaint against the state Department of
Corrections on Thursday in the federal court in Jackson. It alleges numerous
gross abuses at the privately-run East Mississippi Correctional Facility near
Meridian, which houses some 1,500 inmates. Among the claims are that of a
grime-covered facility reeking of feces where inmates spend months in
isolated darkness without access to showers or working toilets. It says
prisoners routinely are denied medication, ignored by the guards, and use the
rats that infest the building as currency to obtain goods and services. “Each
of these conditions, by itself, places prisoners at a substantial risk of
serious harm,” according to the lawsuit. “Taken together, they create an
environment so toxic that they threaten the physical and mental health of all
the prisoners exposed to them.” MDOC spokeswoman Grace Fisher said the
department doesn’t comment on allegations made in pending litigation, but
Commissioner Chris Epps said in a statement that “negotiating will be one of
the options we will explore regarding this matter.” This isn’t the first time
the ACLU has sued over the conditions at a Mississippi prison. The
organization filed suit in 2002 due to inhumane treatment of death row
prisoners at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman
and again in 2010 because of abuses at the Walnut Grove Youth Correction
Facility. The Southern Poverty Law Center was co-counsel in the Walnut Grove
case. Both cases since have been resolved. But the situation at EMCF “is the
worst I’ve ever seen,” said Gabriel B. Eber, staff counsel for the ACLU’s
National Prison Project, who was in Jackson on Thursday discussing the case.
“And I’ve been in prisons all around the country.” The ACLU-SPLC suit was
filed on behalf of 16 inmates whose civil rights allegedly were violated
while in custody at EMCF. One of them, a 27-year-old man named Christopher
Lindsey, reportedly went blind after guards denied him access to treatment
for his glaucoma despite his repeated pleas for help between 2011 and 2013.
Another inmate, William Eastwood, reportedly was raped four-to-five times at
knifepoint in February 2012 by prisoner who snorted cocaine to stay erect
during the ordeal. An officer summoned by Eastwood’s cries left when the
assailant told him everything was OK, the lawsuit says. Other mentally ill
inmates have committed suicide after guards ignored repeated warning signs
and, in some cases, had listed them in good condition hours after they’d
died. Crime in the prison has become so rampant that Lauderdale County
Sheriff Billy Sollie asked the state for a
full-time investigator to handle the case load, he said. As lead
law-enforcement agency for the county, the department must investigate each
felony occurrence on the property. “There have been repeated violent
incidents,” said Sollie, who also cited
inconsistencies with the facility because of its revolving-door management.
Three different private contractors have operated EMCF since it opened in
1999. The current operator is Utah-based Management & Training
Corporation, which was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. MTC also has a
state contract to run Walnut Grove and the Marshall County Correctional
Facility in Holly Springs. MDOC entered into all three agreements last year
after the previous private company, the GEO Group of Boca Raton, Fla., ended
its management contracts for the three facilities. MTC spokesman Issa Arnita
declined to comment on the lawsuit but said that, since taking over the
prison, the company has been “working very hard to improve the conditions and
have made a lot of progress over these past ten months.” On Thursday, family
members of EMCF and Walnut Grove inmates gathered outside the state
Department of Corrections in downtown Jackson to protest what they called
inhumane treatment and the oversight of prisons by private contractors.
Holding signs with their loved ones’ initials and a description of the
alleged abuses they’d suffered while in prison, the family members asked for
justice. “I was assured that while serving his sentence, my son would get the
help he so separately needs,” said Katie Autry while choking back tears.
“This turned out to be false. Since my son has been in east Mississippi, I
have seen his mental state – his mental state got worse, not better.” Autry
declined to name her son, providing only his age and initials – 28 years old
and B.A . The state Department of Corrections lists
a man of the same age named Bilethon Autry serving
a 24-year sentence for manslaughter at EMCF. Autry said her son, who has
bi-polar disorder and a form of schizophrenia, had been denied medication for
the first six months of his sentence and repeatedly placed in isolation as a
result of his erratic behavior. “He has been in isolation, in chains, for the
past three months,” Autry said. “I saw him yesterday, and he looks horrible.
He’s lost probably 100 pounds.” Fisher couldn’t comment on Autry’s situation,
citing the federal HIPAA privacy rule. EMCF Warden Frank Shaw was out of the
office Thursday and couldn’t be reached for comment. EMCF was criticized by a
national correctional health-care expert in 2011 for inadequate psychiatric
staffing, according to the lawsuit. At the time, it had one full-time
psychiatrist at the facility. But one year later, the hours dropped to two
days per week after the state hired another for-profit contractor, Health
Assurance, to provide mental health and psychiatric services at the prison.
The lawsuit also alleges youth prisoners are housed at the facility alongside
adults and that, in at least one case, a 16-year-old was raped while in the
facility’s general population. “We have a moral obligation to take care of
our mentally ill,” said Jody Owens II, executive director of SPLC’s
Mississippi office. “This is fixible.” Owens said
the ACLU and SPLC raised their concerns with MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps
last year but got nowhere. He provided a copy of a May 15, 2012 letter
reportedly sent to Epps detailling the problems and
asking for a response within two weeks, but none was received. Epps said
through his spokeswoman that he never saw the letter. “We have sat down with
the ACLU and SPLC on numerous occasions in the past and have taken their
suggestions on other units,” Epps said in a statement. “Negotiating will be
one of the options we will explore regarding this matter.” The department had
a $29.5 million deficit during the current fiscal year, which ends June 30,
and faces additional budget crunches next year. It’s unclear whether funding
has had anything to do with the prison’s current situation, but Owens said it
shouldn’t matter. “Budget constraints,” he said, “doesn’t relieve constitutional
obligations.”
October 22, 2012 San francisco
Chronicle
MERIDIAN, Miss. (AP) — Three guards at the privately run East Mississippi
Correctional Facility are charged with embezzlement after authorities say the
men lied about their work hours. Lauderdale County sheriff's deputies
arrested 22-year-old Markiezth Tillman, 27-year-old
William David Smith and 24-year-old Derrick Brown on Thursday. Chief Deputy
Ward Calhoun says Monday that the men found a way to manipulate an electronic
time-keeping system to show they were working when they weren't. He says
Management & Training Corp., the Utah company that recently took over
management of the prison, discovered the violations and called law
enforcement. Calhoun says the violations had been happening for less than a
month. Issa Arnita, a spokesman for MTC, says the men are on leave while the
investigation continues. The prison is in Lost Gap, west of Meridian.
June 12, 2012 WTOK
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration says it has cited The GEO
Group Inc. with six safety and health violations, totaling $104,000 in fines,
at East Mississippi Correctional Facility. A report released by OSHA Tuesday
says the GEO Group exposed prison employees to workplace violence and failed
to take measures to reduce the risk. It says while prisons are obviously
dangerous workplaces, the employer is still required to take every reasonable
precaution to protect corrections officers and other staff against safety
hazards. OSHA's findings were based on a December 2011 inspection stemming
from a complaint about the facility. The report goes on to say the GEO Group
also failed to provide adequate staffing, to fix malfunctioning cell door
locks, or to provide proper safety training. OSHA says these were all willful
violations, meaning there was intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for
the law's requirements. The GEO Group has 15 business days to respond to
these charges. Newscenter 11 has reached out to GEO
Group spokesman Pablo Paez for a comment, but we
have yet to receive a response.
June 7, 2012 WTOK
MTC will officially take over operation at East Mississippi Correctional
Facility on July 9th. The company got its start working with young people
outside the corrections system. The Vice President of Corrections at MTC
explained the company's history via a video news release. "We started 30
years ago by providing training for young adults to succeed in life,"
says Odie Washington, "we've taken that and applied it to our
corrections division. "All you are going to see is a change in the name
over the door," that's the opinion of Frank Smith, a private prison
watchdog, "it's not going to be a change in operations." Smith
works as a consultant for Private Corrections Working Group. "The
problem is there is such turnover that there is no mentoring process so
everybody is just kind of new on the job, and they don't know what to do when
the problems arise." MTC officials say they plan on providing EMCF with
all the resources it needs to operate effectively. "We'll provide each
facility the resources necessary for them to operate safely and
effectively," says Washington, and we look forward to applying these
high standards to our new Mississippi facilities as well." Only time
will tell whether MTC will have a successful run in the Magnolia State.
June 7, 2012 AP
A Utah-based private prison operator will take over management of three
Mississippi correctional institutions beginning in July. Management &
Training Corporation of Centreville, Utah, has signed 10-year operating
contracts for the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap
community beginning July 2; Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in
Walnut Grove on July 9; and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in
Holly Springs on Aug. 13. Financial details of the contracts were not made
public. The announcement came Thursday by the company and the Mississippi
Department of Corrections. The Corrections Department and the GEO Group of
Boca Raton, Fla., in April agreed to end GEO's management contract at the
three prisons. At the time Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps told the AP
that the department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons
were presented as a package to other corrections management companies.
"The Mississippi Department of Corrections is looking forward to a great
partnership with MTC," Epps said in a statement Thursday. "There is
a need for different types of prisons, including state and regional as well
as private facilities in Mississippi. MTC will be held to the same high standards
as set by MDOC and I feel extremely confident that MTC will do a great
job." "We look forward to the opportunity to work in
Mississippi," said MTC senior vice president of corrections Odie
Washington in the statement. "We have partnered with state and federal
governments in operating correctional facilities for the past 25 years, and
have a strong record of providing safe, secure and well-run facilities."
May 20, 2012 WLBT
A celebration in Smith Park commemorated changes at Walnut Grove Youth
Correctional Facility. The Friends and Family Members of Youth Incarcerated
at Walnut Grove held a rally Sunday morning. Parents of children at the
facility thanked department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps for ending
the private prison contract with the GEO Group. They said their children were
mistreated under the company's management from being denied medical treatment
to education. "I would like to urge the commissioner to continue to do
the right thing by our children and to not allow another private, for profit
company to take over Walnut Grove," said Walnut Grove parent Kimberly
Carson. "The GEO Group is making money off of these young men. They
don't seem willing to spend any of that money to make sure they have been
properly rehabilitated," said Walnut Grove parent Marietta Larry. GEO
managed Walnut Grove and the East Mississippi and Marshall County
Correctional facilities until last month.
April 20, 2012 WTOK
On Friday Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps reeled off a
long list of problems the state has been monitoring at East Mississippi
Correctional Facility in recent weeks and months. Those issues include a
murder and multiple suicides. Epps says the final straw with GEO Group, the
current manager of EMCF, came when the company asked the state for $5 million
more to operate the facility. GEO Group is painting a different picture of
the split, saying they initiated the move because the facility is financially
under-performing.
April 20, 2012 AP
The Mississippi Department of Corrections says GEO Group Inc., one of the
country's largest private prison operators, will no longer manage three
facilities in Mississippi. On Thursday, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based company
said it was backing out of a contract to manage the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap community by July 19. Company
officials told The Associated Press on Friday that it had nothing else to
say. Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps told the AP on Friday that the
department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons were
presented as a package to other corrections management companies. Epps said
he would expect GEO Group to end its ties to the Walnut Grove Youth
Correctional Facility in Walnut Grove and Marshall County Correctional
Facility in Holly Springs by July 20. "We feel this may be a golden
opportunity to provide a better price for the taxpayers of the state and at
the same time maybe do a better job in the operation of the facilities,"
Epps said. "That's what I would like to see." Epps said there was
some concern at MDOC about incidents at all three prisons. The Walnut Grove
facility is presently under a federal court order to remove juvenile inmates
amid allegations of physical and sexual abuse. That court order came in a
settlement of a lawsuit filed against Walnut Grove in 2010. GEO Group has
repeatedly declined to comment on the lawsuit. Epps has said his plan is to
send the 17-and-younger inmates to Central Mississippi Correctional Facility
in Rankin County by Oct. 1. He said there are about 1,000 vacant beds at that
prison now, so there is no need for a new building. Walnut Grove also houses
adults. They would remain there under a settlement that ended a 2010 lawsuit.
Epps said Friday that local authority boards deal with management contracts at
EMCF and Walnut Grove with MDOC help. He said MDOC works directly with
vendors at Marshall County. "There are a lot of these management
companies out there. We're reaching out to those private operators to see
what the best proposal is we might get," he said. In its announcement,
GEO chairman/CEO George C. Zoley said EMCF was
"financially underperforming." GEO Group vice president Pablo E. Paez said Friday the company would have no other comment.
March 28, 2012 Vicksburg Post
When Vicksburg native Stuart Brooks was killed Feb. 21 in his prison cell at
the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a family member's old fear was
proved prophetic. "Stuart is very much in need of psychological
help," Brooks' aunt wrote in 1995, before he was sentenced for the sexual
battery of her 9-year-old son. "I know that with his mentality, he would
not survive in a prison, someone would probably kill him. I don't think he'll
ever be able to function in a normal society." Brooks was 18 when he was
convicted in Warren County Circuit Court of assaulting his young cousin.
Writing to then-Judge Frank Vollor as part of Vollor's pre-sentencing investigation, Brooks' aunt was
torn — angry about what happened to her son but concerned for her nephew.
"He's going to need help for the rest of his life and should be locked
up that long," she wrote. Instead, Brooks was released after serving 15
years of a 30-year sentence, was re-arrested and sent back to prison for
failing to register as a sex offender. About halfway through that three-year
sentence, he was strangled, an autopsy showed, at the Lost Gap facility. His
cellmate has been charged in his death. With Brooks' death, all those close
to the 1995 case are gone.
November 2, 2011 WTOK
The company that owns a local prison says it will not talk about any of the
problems going on there right now. An inmate at the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility died there over the weekend, apparently by suicide. A
guard was recently stabbed by an inmate. It's the latest in a string of
violent acts at the prison. After two days of attempts to contact the GEO
Group for a comment on the problems, we got a response Wednesday. Geo Group
officials say as a matter of policy, they will not speak to the media.
October 31, 2011 WTOK
An inmate at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility took his own
life, according to authorities. The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department,
which investigates incidents there, said 27-year-old Bobby Wilkerson hung
himself in his cell using bed sheets. They say he left a note in a Bible
beside his bed. The death is the latest in a string of incidents at the
prison. A guard was recently stabbed with a shank. And local officials are
looking for some changes. Since 1999, Sheriff Billy Sollie
says his department has responded to as many as 60 calls for help at EMCF,
located on Highway 80 at Lost Gap. Sollie says the
inmate population has doubled since the facility opened. "You know, with
the Mississippi Department of Corrections shutting down some of their violent
units that were traditionally held in the northern part of the state, many of
those inmates are transferred here to the Lauderdale County area," said Sollie. Sollie attributes that
to the the increased level of violence reported at
EMCF. But Sollie says he has no control over the
situation. "It's not our responsibility to run that facility. It's our
responsibility to investigate crimes that are reported to us," Sollie said. But having to investigate so many incidents
at EMCF is hindering efforts to conduct its regular duties, according to the
sheriff. "We would certainly like to talk with the state of Mississippi
about them employing a full-time investigator that would investigate the
major crimes, your felony crimes that occur on that facility," said Sollie. "And free up my investigators to work for
the citizens of Lauderdale County." Over the last couple of days, Newscenter 11 has received numerous phone calls from
relatives of inmates at EMCF, who claim that inmates aren't being treated
properly. We contacted both the warden and deputy warden for this story.
Neither opted to comment. East Mississippi Correctional Facility is owned by
the Geo Group. It's one of 116 facilities the company operates world-wide. It
opened back in 1999, and has about 1500 beds.
June 27, 2011 Clarion Ledger
The family of a man found hanging in a cell on Feb. 19 at East Mississippi
Correctional Facility in Lauderdale County plans to sue the state over his
death, based on the results of a second autopsy. The Mississippi Medical
Examiner's office said Sammy Robinson's death was consistent with suicide.
But a second autopsy performed at the family's request by Dr. Matthias Okoye
of the Nebraska Institute of Forensic Science said Robinson had blunt force
trauma to the upper and lower extremities as well as sharp force trauma to
the right upper and lower extremities, according to Warren Martin Jr., an
attorney for family members. An intent-to-sue letter has been issued to the
state Department of Corrections and the GEO Group of Boca Raton, Fla., which
operates the prison. In the notice, Martin said Okoye noted several abrasions
and contusions all over Robinson's body. MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps said
Monday he can't discuss Robinson's case because of the pending legal action.
April 1, 2006 Meridian Star
A former guard at East Mississippi Correctional Facility at Lost Gap
received a three-year suspended sentence this week in Lauderdale County
Circuit Court for helping two prisoners escape last year. Tomeka Lashae
Brown, 26, of Porterville pleaded guilty Monday to aiding the escape of a
felon. Prisoners Gregory Malone, 26, and Christopher Roy, 24, escaped Oct. 17
after apparently using a saw blade to cut their way out of the facility. They
were captured about 24 hours later at a hotel in Northport, Ala., near Tuscaloosa.
Malone was serving a life sentence for a capital murder in Hinds County. Roy
was serving a life sentence for a murder in Jackson County. In her petition
to plead guilty, Brown admitted driving the two men to Tuscaloosa and paying
for their motel room. Brown was indicted by a Lauderdale County grand jury in
November; Lost Gap prison officials announced she had been fired in December.
Circuit Judge Lester Williamson Jr. handed down the sentence, which could
have been as severe as 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Roy and Malone
were each indicted on a charge of escape, which could add five years to their
life sentences. A third inmate, 24-year-old Kenneth Johnson, was indicted on
a charge of aiding the escape of a felon; he is serving a 71/2-year sentence
for a burglary in Lawrence County. None of these cases has been resolved. The
Geo Group Inc., a Florida-based company, operates East Mississippi
Correctional Facility, which can house as many as 1,000 inmates, under a
contract with the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The prison
specializes in housing prisoners with psychiatric problems.
March 31, 2006 WREG
A former Texas prison official has taken over as warden of the privately
run East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Lauderdale County. Yesterday
was the first day on the job for 51-year-old Dale Caskey, who recently
retired after 30 years with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Caskey
replaced interim warden Darryl Anderson. Caskey's last assignment in Texas
was as warden of the Hughes Unit, a maximum-security facility in Gatesville,
Texas. The East Mississippi Correctional Facility, located in the Lost Gap
community, houses inmates with mental disorders. It's owned by The Geo Group,
formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corporation.
December 16, 2005 Clarion Ledger
Two guards have been terminated and a supervisor resigned in the wake of the
October escape of two inmates serving life sentences for murder at the East
Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian. "The message is that if you
don't follow policy and procedures, you will be terminated," Mississippi
Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said. Epps said guard Tomeka Brown was
fired for providing transportation from the Mississippi/Alabama line to
Tuscaloosa for escaped inmates Gregory Malone and Christopher Roy. Epps said
Brown apparently had a personal relationship with Malone. Brown, who was
indicted last month, is charged with accessory before the fact to escape for
aiding an abetting the inmates. She is out on a
$100,000 bond. Epps said guard Lakeisha Gowdy was
fired after an investigation determined she had not physically counted
inmates to ensure they were actually in the cells. Sgt. Cheryl Thornton
resigned before being terminated, Epps said. In Thornton's case, daily physical
counts of inmates weren't being performed as required, Epps said. The two
inmates used a saw blade to cut their way out of the facility.
November 25, 2005 WREG
Lauderdale County authorities say there appears to be no foul play in death
of an East Mississippi Correctional Facility inmate. The body of 32-year-old
Reginald Williams, of Meridian, was found hanging in his cell yesterday. The
sheriff's department is investigating the death and waiting for autopsy
results from the Mississippi Mortuary in Pearl.
November 19, 2005 Meridian Star
It's the mid-1990s. The number of inmates in Mississippi's penal system is
increasing, and state officials need to build more prisons - or contract with
private companies to build more prisons. Meanwhile, Lauderdale County and
Meridian officials are looking for ways to improve the local economy and
create jobs. It seemed like a good match. The state needed a place to build a
prison and Lauderdale had a readily available workforce and land that needed
no rezoning. When city and county officials began putting together a
proposal, they hoped the new prison would provide an influx of jobs that
would only increase over time. They also hoped it would help Naval Air
Station Meridian. New U.S. Navy regulations prohibited student pilots from
performing maintenance tasks at the base. It was hoped that non-violent
prisoners could do some of the work - saving the base $300,000 to $500,000.
The Wackenhut Corp., now The Geo Group Inc., won the contract to build and
operate East Mississippi Correctional Facility in southwest Lauderdale
County's Lost Gap community. The facility accepted its first prisoners in
April 1999. Measuring outcomes: District 2 Supervisor Jimmie Smith said the
initial estimate was that the facility would create up to 350 jobs. It
currently employs 220 people in positions ranging from security officers to
medical staff to administrators. The partnership between the Navy base and
the prison never happened, according to Susan Junkins,
public affairs officer at NAS Meridian. "To the best of my knowledge I
have seen no impact that it has made to my business," said David
Hamilton, owner of the Best Western in Meridian. Ray Joyner, manager of the
Howard Johnson motel in Meridian, concurred: "I can't tell any difference
in business. It certainly doesn't seem any different, but I wouldn't call it
a major tourist attraction or industry, either." Wayne Gasson, chief of labor market information with the
Mississippi Department of Employment Security, said given the relatively
small number of jobs available, it is hard to gauge the prison's economic
impact. "If a facility like this one opened or closed, it would be
significant to the people that worked there - but as far as it impacting an
entire area, it probably isn't going to have much of an impact," Gasson said. The East Mississippi Correctional Facility
at Lost Gap employs 220 people. Interim Warden Darryl Anderson reports that
the annual turnover rate at the facility is 65 percent. Here's a look at
positions available and their hourly pay range. Security posts $7-$10.95
Clerical staff $7-$10 Food service $7-$15.35 Program staff $11.06-$18.45
Maintenance staff $9-$17 Medical staff $7.35-$20.95
October 29, 2005 Meridian Star
Residents of the Lost Gap community were uneasy in April 1999, when the first
prisoners began arriving at East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a private
prison that brought inmates with mental disorders to their quiet area of
southeast Lauderdale County. Since then, there have been bumps in the road -
violence inside the prison, deaths, indictments of inmates and, most
recently, escapes. When two convicted murderers escaped from the EMCF this
month, it sparked a wide mix of emotions among residents of Lost Gap. In
addition to the escapes, EMCF has been the site of at least five incidents of
inmate-on-inmate violence since 2002. Three of these incidents led to
inmates' deaths. Also, in February 2002, inmates created a two-hour
disturbance when they refused to return to their cells. Correctional officers
were forced to use chemical agents to subdue them, and 29 inmates were
transferred to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman
as a result. Current District 2 Supervisor Jimmie Smith, who was also on the
board at the time of the contract's approval, estimated the facility would
create 350 jobs. Lost Gap resident Robert Maxey doesn't share Florey's
optimistic view. "Sure, it provides a few jobs, but you can find jobs in
lots of other places. I really don't see the benefit in having it here,"
Maxey said. Community residents tried to derail the project, but to no avail.
When Maxey's wife, Barbara, was given a tour of the facility in 1998, she was
told that escapes would be impossible. Her skepticism at that remark was
confirmed on Monday, Oct. 17, however, when convicted killers Gregory Malone,
26, and Christopher Roy, 24, with the apparent assistance of a prison guard
and a fellow inmate, escaped through sawed window bars. "My
granddaughter was scared to death," Mrs. Maxey said. "If they
hadn't captured the two men, she likely would have never gone outside again.
October 30, 2005 AP
With two murderers escaping in the past month, residents here have begun
carrying weapons and apprehensions have grown about the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility. The private prison, opened in April 1999, houses
prisoners with mental disorders in southeast Lauderdale County. On Oct. 17,
convicted killers Gregory Malone, 26, and Christopher Roy, 24, escaped from
the facility, allegedly with the assistance of a prison guard and a fellow
inmate. The men escaped through sawed window bars. They were caught about 24
hours later. That was the second escape this year - Earl Blue escaped from
the facility on April 8. He was caught hours later, but residents are not
satisfied with the level of safety. The prison has had patterns of violence
within its walls leading to both deaths and indictments of inmates. The
facility has had five incidents of inmate violence since 2002 - three of
which resulted in inmate deaths. Many residents have opposed the presence of
the EMCF since it was proposed in the mid-1990s. "It's made a lot of
people more apprehensive," said John Griffin, 67, a retired Marine and
former Lost Gap fire chief. "My mother-in-law lived here when they first
brought the prison here, and she was scared to death. And now you've got more
people walking around carrying a gun because of the place. I don't go out of
this house without carrying a gun."
October 23, 2005 Clarion Ledger
A second prison employee is being eyed in an investigation of two convicted
murderers' escape from the East Mississippi Correctional Facility last week.
A prison guard has been charged, but Chris Epps, commissioner of the
Mississippi Department of Corrections, said Saturday "there's been some
conversation about another employee." "We won't know until the
investigation is concluded. I would hope within a couple weeks we should have
everything wrapped up," he said. On Friday, inmate Kenneth Nelson
Johnson Jr., 23, who is serving a 7 1/2-year sentence for a burglary conviction
in Lawrence County, was charged with two counts of accessory before the fact.
He is the fourth person charged in relation to the escape. Gregory Malone,
26, and Christopher Roy, 24, both serving life sentences for murder, fled
Monday from the prison on Old U.S. 80 West at the Lost Gap community. They
were captured about 24 hours later at a hotel in Northport, Ala., near
Tuscaloosa. Prison guard Tomeka Brown, 25, of Porterville, was arrested and
charged with two counts of accessory before the fact. She posted $100,000
bond from the Lauderdale County jail Thursday. Epps has said Malone and Roy
did not share a cell. He said he believes someone helped the escaped convicts
by sawing window bars, allowing them to get to the prison's roof and escape
after cutting a set of camera wires. Neither he nor Calhoun knows how wide a
net the investigators will have to cast, Epps said. Despite the conversations
about a possible second employee, no employees other than Brown have been
arrested or disciplined, Epps said. Lauderdale County and Epps'
office are coordinating the investigation.
October 22, 2005 Meridian Star
An East Mississippi Correctional Facility inmate was charged Friday with
helping two fellow prisoners escape earlier this week. Kenneth Nelson Johnson
Jr., 23, who is serving a 71/2-year sentence for a burglary conviction in
Lawrence County, was charged with two counts of accessory before the fact. He
is the fourth person to be charged in connection with the Monday escape.
Lauderdale County Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun said he expects others to be
charged as the investigation continues. Porterville resident Tomeka Brown,
25, a correctional officer at the private prison for inmates with mental
problems, was arrested at the same hotel later Tuesday and charged with two
counts of accessory before the fact. She posted $100,000 bond and was
released from the Lauderdale County jail Thursday. Officials with the
Department of Corrections, which contracts with EMCF parent company The GEO
Group Inc. to house state prisoners, could not be reached for comment Friday.
State Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps told reporters earlier this
week that Malone and Roy did not share a cell. Epps said he believes someone
helped the escapees by sawing window bars, allowing them to get to the
prison's roof and escape after cutting a set of camera wires.
October 19, 2005 Meridian Star
Two inmates who were captured after escaping from the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility on Monday have been transferred to the Mississippi
State Penitentiary at Parchman. Gregory Malone, 26,
and Christopher Roy, 24, who were serving life sentences at the Lost Gap
prison, were captured by deputy U.S. marshals early Tuesday morning at an Econo Lodge in Northport, Ala., near Tuscaloosa. The two
were discovered missing shortly after 12:50 a.m. Monday at the privately
operated prison for inmates with mental health problems. Prison employee
Tomeka Brown, who investigators believe played a key role in the inmates'
escape, is currently in custody at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility.
Brown, 25, of Porterville and a correctional officer at EMCF, has been
charged with two counts of accessory before the fact. She was behind held on
$100,000 bond Wednesday. Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher
Epps has said that other employees of the East Mississippi Correctional
Facility, including interim Warden Darryl Anderson, could face disciplinary
action. However, MDOC officials wouldn't be more specific Wednesday.
October 19, 2005 Clarion Ledger
Two convicted murderers and a Mississippi corrections officer accused of
assisting in their escape from a Meridian prison were arrested in Alabama,
Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said
Tuesday. Investigators believe Tomeka Lashae Brown helped Gregory Malone and
Christopher Roy rent a room at the Econo Lodge
Hotel at 1930 McFarland Blvd., in Northport, Ala., Sollie
said. The inmates were discovered missing from the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility early Monday morning. Brown, 25, of DeKalb is charged with
two counts of accessory before the fact. All three are being held without
bond at the Tuscaloosa County Jail. Malone, 26, and Roy, 24, will face
charges of felony escape, Mississippi officials said. Sollie
would not give any other details on Brown's alleged role in the inmates'
escape from the prison, which houses inmates with mental health problems.
Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Tuesday
some employees - including interim Warden Darryl Anderson - may be fired upon
completion of an investigation. Epps said he had "grave" concerns
about hourly inmate counts, and window and bar checks. He said he believes
someone helped Malone and Roy, who were not housed together, by sawing window
bars, allowing them to get to the prison's roof and escape after cutting a
set of camera wires. "You have to check those bars every 24 hours with a
rubber hammer. The way they were able to saw out of that prison, it didn't
happen overnight," he said. Epps said security cameras show the inmates
leaving around 1 a.m.
August 12, 2005 Sun Herald
Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie says three
men have been charged with murder in the stabbing death of an inmate at East
Mississippi Correctional Facility are charged in the murder of fellow inmate
Stanley Johnson. Sollie said Friday that John
Pickens, 35; John Sparkman, 30; and Kelvin Cage, 36, each face a charge of
murder in the stabbing death of Johnson on Sunday. Sollie
said all three are inmates at the privately run prison. Sollie
said the killing apparently dates back to a disagreement between Pickens and
Johnson, when the two were incarcerated in the Mississippi State Penitentiary
in Parchman. "All indications are this was a
planned assault on the victim," the sheriff said.
August 10, 2005 Clarion Ledger
Lauderdale County authorities said Tuesday they hope to make an arrest today
in the stabbing death of 43-year-old Stanley Johnson inside the East
Mississippi Correctional Facility. "We are anticipating an arrest in the
next 24 to 48 hours," Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said. Johnson was serving a life sentence for a
1985 rape conviction in Sunflower County. Warden Larry Greer said Johnson was
attacked about 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the privately run prison and died several
hours later in a local hospital. Sollie and Greer
said several prisoners have been questioned in the stabbing. No weapon has
been found, and officials won't go into specifics about their investigation.
This is the second time in three years an inmate has been killed in the prison.
In 2002, 58-year-old Lonnie Grisham was found bludgeoned to death in his
cell. Information on whether Grisham's killer was prosecuted wasn't available
Tuesday. The prison is run by the GEO Group Inc., a Florida-based company
formerly known as Wackenhut. The GEO Group runs private prisons in 14 states,
as well as in South Africa and Australia. In Mississippi, the company also
runs the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs, which was
the site of the beating death of an inmate by another prisoner in 2001.
August 9, 2005 WAPT
An investigation continues into the stabbing death of an inmate at the
privately run East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Lauderdale County.
The inmate, 42-year-old Stanley Johnson, was serving a life sentence for a
rape conviction in Sunflower County. Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton Cobler reported that Johnson died Sunday at a Meridian
hospital from stab wounds in the chest and both thighs. An autopsy has been
ordered. East Mississippi Correctional Facility is located off U.S. Highway
80 in the Lost Gap community. It's privately owned by GEO Group, formerly
Wackenhut Corrections Corp.
August 8, 2005 Sun Herald
An inmate at the privately run East Mississippi Correctional Facility in
Lauderdale County has died of stab wounds, says county Coroner Clayton Cobler. Wackenhut operates the facility, a 750-bed prison
that opened in April 1999 off U.S. 80 near the Lost Gap community. Cobler said 42-year-old inmate Stanley Johnson was
stabbed three times in an incident Sunday. He said Johnson died at a Meridian
hospital. Cobler said an investigation is underway.
Prison officials have declined to comment.
April 11, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
A state inmate serving a 40-year sentence for armed robbery in Leflore County
was apprehended without incident Sunday afternoon by the Forest Police
Department, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Earl
Blue, 27, who escaped from East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian
on Friday, will be taken to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. East Mississippi Correctional Facility is a
privately run correctional facility operated by Wackenhut Corrections
Corporation of Palm Beach, Fla.
February 26, 2003
Prison emergency personnel used chemical agents to get 29 prisoners to return
to their cells at the
Tuesday evening, officials said. Nobody was seriously injured in the
disturbance, which lasted for two hours according to a statement by Wackenhut
Corrections Corp., a private prison management company that operates the
750-bed prison. (AP)
August 21, 2002
Authorities believe an inmate who died at the East Mississippi correctional
Facility at Lost Gap was attacked by another prisoner. Lauderdale
county chief deputy Mike Mitchell on Tuesday identified the dead inmate at
Lonnie Grisham, 58, of Tippah County. East Mississippi Correctional
Facility is a 100-acre prison opened in April 1999. It is operated by
Wackenhut Corrections. (AP)
August 23, 2002
The
death of an inmate at a Lost Gap prison facility has been ruled
a homicide, authorities said. Sheriff Billy Sollie said a state pathologist determined
blunt force trauma to be the cause of death of Lonnie Grisham,
58. Sheriff's
deputies said they found Grisham's bruised and bloody body in
his cell Monday. No weapons were found in the cell. Sollie
said Grisham's roommate Tyrone J. Wilson was being held in
isolation. Wilson, 29, is being questioned about the death,
authorities say. East Mississippi Correctional Facility,
in the Lost Gap community west of Meridian, is a
100-acre prison opened in April 1999 by Wackenhut Corrections.
The prison is designed to
house inmates with special needs, including those with psychiatric
illnesses. (Clarion Ledger)
August 21, 2002
Authorities say an inmate is a suspect in the death of his cellmate at East
Mississippi Correctional Facility in the Lost Gap community. Mitchell
said the blood and bruises on the body indicated the death appeared to be
caused by blunt force trauma. The death marks the third apparent
inmate-on-inmate attack at Lost Gap prison since May. An inmate was
stabbed in the chest with a piece of sharpened metal broken off a cyclone
fence in mid-May. The victim was treated for a puncture wound to the
chest at Rush Foundation Hospital. In late June, an inmate was stabbed
in the jaw with a similar weapon. The inmate recovered from his wounds.
(AP)
East Point Christian Academy
(formerly known as Bethel Boys Academy)
Lucedale, Mississippi
April 11, 2005 Clarion Ledger
A manhunt for a missing student continued late Sunday in the wake of a
weekend melee that left a dormitory building ravaged, seven cadets injured
and nine cadets arrested at Eagle Point Christian Academy, a private school
for troubled teen boys in Lucedale. Four students, or cadets, ran away from
the school Sunday afternoon. Three were caught less than a mile from the
rural campus, but a fourth remained at large, George County Sheriff Garry
Welford said Sunday night. The sheriff said it's unknown if the school,
directed by John Fountain of Lucedale, will be in session today. The
situation began at 10:57 p.m. Friday, when the Sheriff's Department received
a 911 call from the school, formerly known as the Bethel Boys Academy,
Welford said. Deputies found a dormitory with shattered windows and
overturned beds. Students told Welford that a rumor had been circulating that
state investigators might arrive at the school over the weekend. Students
told him that caused some cadets to riot, Welford said. The dormitory has
been shut down because it's so badly damaged, Welford said, and until cleanup
is completed, the school building is being used as sleeping quarters. Efforts
to reach Fountain on Sunday were unsuccessful. He took over Bethel Boys
Academy from his father, Herman Fountain, nearly two years ago. Bethel Boys
Academy has a history of abuse allegations and state investigations dating to
1988, when 72 children were removed by state welfare officials. In 1990, a
judge closed the school, then owned by Herman Fountain Sr. In 1994, Fountain
reopened it as Bethel Boys Academy. Early this year, the school changed its
name to Eagle Point Christian Academy. John Fountain said the name change is
an effort to disassociate the school from the past allegations.
George-Greene Correctional Facility
George, Mississippi
Corrections Management Services
March 13, 2003
The warden of the George-Greene Correctional Facility has been relieved of
his duties. George County Sheriff Don Parnell said Michael Bernhardt
was not complying with Mississippi Department of Corrections procedure.
After consulting with a representative of Corrections Management Services
Inc., Parnell decided that Bernhardt's services were no longer needed.
(Clarion Ledger)
Grenada County Detention Center
Grenada, Mississippi
GEO Group (formerly Correctional Services Corporation)
May 19, 2008 AP
A federal judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Carroll
County in 2006 by the estate of a woman who died in the back of a sheriff's deputy's squad car. The family of Debbie Loggins had
sought $10 million from the county. U.S. District Judge Sharion
Aycock ruled this past week that Loggins' death did not result from force
used by three deputies when they arrested her Sept. 17, 2005. A $15 million
lawsuit against the deputies - Michael Spellman, Charles Jones and David Mims
- was dismissed in December 2006. "She died, and it was unfortunate,
absolutely tragic, that one would pass away, but it had little to do with the
actions of the officers," said Michael Wolf, a Jackson attorney who
represented Carroll County and the deputies. Loggins, 33, of North
Carrollton, had been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
She was unconscious when she arrived at a private prison in Grenada,
authorities said. Deputies had arrested Loggins, the mother of six, after
responding to a report of two women fighting. Two hours later, Loggins was
dead. Authorities said an autopsy showed no signs or evidence of trauma.
May 28, 2006 Daily Star
The operators of the Grenada County Jail have told county officials they plan
to give it back to the county in 120 days. Geo Group, Inc., the leaser of the local correctional facility, met with
Grenada County officials last week to discuss the financial shortfalls which
the leaser is suffering. "We have had an initial discussion with the
county and we are hoping to come to a resolution beneficial to both
parties," said Pablo Paez, the Director of
Corporate Relations with The Geo Group. Geo took over the county jail last
year when the Florida based Correctional Service Corporation's (CSC) contract
ended. Paez said yesterday that Geo is working with
the county but no final decision has been made yet. Grenada County Board of
Supervisors President Columbus Hankins said Geo did give a notice and they
were asked to submit a proposal to the county if they had any adjustments
that were to be made. "We are seeking bids for a new leaser even though
it is still in the early stages," said Hankins. Hankins said it would be
too expensive for the county to run the jail and the sheriff and the county
is too busy to do so.
November 29, 2005 Greenwood Commonwealth
Carroll County District Attorney Doug Evans soon will receive the results of
the state Highway Patrol's investigation into the death of Debbie Denise
Loggins, a patrol spokeswoman says. "All investigative findings,
including autopsy results, will be forwarded to the district attorney's office
within the next few days," Delores Lewis said in a written statement
Monday. She had been arrested for fighting and was driven from the sheriff's
office in Carrollton to Grenada. She was, according to Lewis,
"unresponsive upon arrival at Grenada County Correctional Services
Corp., a private prison in Grenada."
November 29, 2005 Sun Herald
An autopsy is complete on the body of a North Carrollton woman who died in
September after being found unconscious in the back of a Carroll County
Sheriff's deputy's car, the Mississippi Highway Patrol says. "All
investigative findings, including autopsy results, will be forwarded to the
district attorney's office within the next few days," Highway Patrol
spokesman Delores Lewis said. Debbie Denise Loggins, 33, had been charged
with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She was unconscious when she
arrived at a private prison in Grenada, authorities said. Sheriff Don Gray
has said he is confident the final autopsy report will show Loggins' death
was not due to excessive force while she was in the custody of his deputies.
March 24, 2005 Sun Herald
The family of an inmate who died this past weekend during an apparent fight
at the Grenada County Detention Center has filed a lawsuit against the
operators of the lockup. The jail is operated by Correctional Services
Corporation, a private prison company headquartered in Sarasota, Fla. The
lawsuit was filed Wednesday against CSC in U.S. District Court in Oxford. It
seeks unspecified damages. CSC will have 20 days to respond. Grenada County
Sheriff Alton Strider identified the dead inmate as Kenneth Kendall, 22, of
Grenada. He said Kendall was killed Sunday night in his cell. An autopsy has
been ordered. Kendall was serving a 30-day sentence for failing to pay fines,
authorities said. Jay Westfaul, an Oxford attorney
representing the Kendall family, said Thursday that the sheriff and Grenada
County are not defendants in the lawsuit but that may change once the
investigation and autopsy are completed. "Jails and prisons should be
run by governmental entities not private corporations out to make a
profit," Westfaul said in a statement. Westfaul said the lawsuit alleges the facility was
understaffed at the time of the incident and that Kendall was placed in an
area with "hardened criminals, many of whom were being held for capital
murder."
March 22, 2005 ZWire
A young man killed during an attack in the county jail was serving time for
contempt of court, according to authorities.
The inmate beaten to death at Correctional Services Corporation (CSC)
had been in jail for the charges related to fines owed to the city. According
to Grenada County Sheriff Alton Strider, Kenneth Kendall, 22, of Grenada was
being held at CSC on contempt fines. Kendall died in what the sheriff called
an altercation with other inmates in his cell. According to Grenada County
Justice Court Clerk Brenda Mullen, a simple assault charge against Kendall
had been remanded by the county; he remained in jail on the charge from the
Grenada Police Department. The investigation is continuing. Information about
charges related to the death was not available at press time.
Hinds County Jail
Hinds, Mississippi
Wright Security
December 17, 2002
A Hinds County jail inmate who got past a security guards assigned to watch
him at a Jackson hospital and ran off naked was captured Monday, officials
said. "Jordan was last seen running naked across the parking
lot," Sheriff Malcolm McMillin said before Jordan was captured.
Wright Security guards inmates when they are hospitalized, Pickett
said. Stanley Wright, the company owner, couldn't be reached for
comment Monday. (Clarion Ledger)
Jackson County Adult Detention Center
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Aramark
February 26, 2009 The Mississippi
Press
State health officials said they have not yet determined the cause of a
salmonella outbreak earlier this month at the Jackson County Adult Detention
Center, but that the illness has been contained. State Health Department
spokeswoman Liz Sharlot said Wednesday that the
investigation into the cause may take up to four weeks to complete. Aramark
spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said the food service company is working with state
health officials in the investigation. Aramark has been the food service
provider for the jail for at least 16 years, and the company purchases and
prepares all food at the jail, according to the county. "There were 80
inmates who complained of flu-like symptoms, but there were only four that
the hospital determined had salmonella," Jarvis said. She noted the
illness could have come from something other than a food item, such as
improper hand washing or improper storage of food. "We are looking at
everything," she said. Sharlot confirmed 80
inmates complained of symptoms between Feb. 6 and 14 but couldn't say how
many of those had salmonella.
February 19, 2009 The Mississippi Press
State Health Department officials were trying to determine Wednesday what
gave 80 maximum-security inmates food poisoning beginning last week and
resulted in five prisoners being taken to a local hospital this week. Liz Sharolt, director of communications with the state Health
Department, said there were 80 prisoners in the Jackson County Adult
Detention Center complaining of gastrointestinal illness, or salmonella
sickness, from Feb. 6-14. "But, the illness has run its course, and
there are no new cases to report," she said. Jackson County Sheriff Mike
Byrd said Wednesday five inmates were taken to Singing River Hospital on
Monday, where it was confirmed that they had a salmonella-related illness.
The sheriff said four prisoners were treated and released Monday, but one
inmate remained hospitalized Wednesday afternoon. The inmate was in good
condition Wednesday, Byrd said, and should be released soon. "They
mainly suffered from diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and throwing up," Byrd
said. He added that two prisoners experienced a low-grade fever. Byrd said he
believes the bacterial food-borne illness was not caused by peanuts or peanut
butter, but possibly by lettuce. He added that ARAMARK World has been the food
service provider for the jail for at least 16 years. The company purchases
and prepares all food at the jail. Byrd said the international company is
conducting an independent investigation. Officials with ARAMARK's home office
in Philadelphia, Pa., were unavailable for comment Wednesday.
September 27, 2006 The Mississippi Press
Overcrowding at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center should ease in
the near future. The Jackson County Board of Supervisors approved an
additional steel fabricated facility on the ADC grounds in Pascagoula. The
$1.2 million facility will house 116 inmates. It is expected to be ready in
five months. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd said relief from overcrowding
is a critical issue. "We're just doing what we have to do to maintain
what we have. It's very stressful. We have done shakedowns where we have
found weapons which is very dangerous to officers. We had a contract employee
with Aramark, we just caught her last week bringing drugs into the facility. Everyday is a challenge just to maintain things on a day
to day basis," Byrd said.
Jackson County Youth Court
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Mississippi Security Police
July 12, 2011 The Sun Herald
Police removed four juveniles from Jackson County’s Youth Court jail Tuesday
morning and arrested them as adults on charges of kidnapping and armed
robbery in last week’s “take-over” style escape attempt at the youth jail,
Pascagoula Lt. James DeShannon Massey said. Police
identified the suspects as Victor Otempong, Calip
Johnson and Christopher Kutteroff, all 16, and
Jamal Williams, 15. There were two other juveniles involved in the escape
attempt, Massey said, who are each charged as juveniles with escape. “Four of
them (those charged as adults) did the initial takeover,” Massey explained,
“and let the other two out of their cells.” As a result, he said, the two
other juveniles were not charged as a adults because
the accusations against them failed to meet state statute requirements for
charging them as adults. The takeover started after four of the teens gained
control over the security guards, all employees of the independent firm,
Mississippi Security Police, and grabbed the keys to unlock their cells.
After getting out, the four of them unlocked the cells of the two other
juveniles accused in the case. All six are accused of holding Youth Court
intake personnel against their will until the workers were able to place a
call to Pascagoula police to say they were being held hostage inside the
locked complex off Telephone Road. When police arrived, the intake personnel
assisted officers trying to gain access. Once inside, Pascagoula police and
MSP guards regained control, arresting all six of the individuals accused in
the case. Two MSP officers suffered injuries, with both sent to Singing River
Hospital for treatment. At a Jackson County supervisors meeting Monday, it
was noted that one of the security guards had suffered a broken arm.
Marshall County Correctional Facility
Marshall County, Mississippi
MTC (formerly run by GEO Group)
MDOC Sticks with Private Prisons: Jackson
Free Press, June 13, 2012. MDOC chooses MTC to take over where GEO
failed. What are they smoking?
Nov 15, 2022 wlox.com
Auditor’s office demands $1.9m from private prison
operator who ‘put staff and inmates at risk’
MARSHALL CO., Miss. (WLBT) - State Auditor Shad White
has demanded nearly $2 million dollars from a private prison operator after
the company understaffed a Marshall County facility, which violated the terms
of its contract. White said agents served Management & Training
Corporation (MTC) with a civil demand totaling nearly $2 million. MTC
developed minimum mandatory staffing levels risking the safety of inmates and
prison staff. The company also failed to appropriately notify and credit the
Mississippi Department of Corrections when its staffing levels fell below the
minimum amount required by the contract. The Auditor’s demand accounts for
nearly 12,000 unfilled mandatory shifts at the Marshall County facility from
2017 to 2020. “This is one of the larger demands we’ve issued in my time in
office. Our investigators have proven we will take on the biggest cases down
to the smallest to protect taxpayer dollars,” said Auditor White. “We look
forward to a swift recovery of these funds.” If the company does not make
payment on the demand within 30 days, the case will be transmitted to the
Mississippi Attorney General’s Office for litigation.
Mar 10, 2017 msnewsnow.com
Mississippi: Contraband found in private prison
MARSHALL COUNTY, MS (Mississippi News Now) - The third
major shakedown in a week by the Mississippi Department of Corrections
happened Thursday at the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly
Springs. Officers found bags of spice, marijuana, knives or shanks, tennis
shoes, cell phones, cell phone chargers, batteries and assorted pills
according to a press release from MDOC.
The items were removed from dormitory style housing units and
individual cells. Crystal meth was
found in the body cavity of one inmate. All facilities are being searched
under a system-wide contraband crackdown ordered by MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall under Operation Zero Tolerance. "Our
unannounced shakedowns are paying off and will continue," said Hall.
"I thank all of the probation and parole agents and correctional
officers involved for their extra work to help make MDOC safer for both staff
and inmates." MCCF, one of the state's private prisons and the oldest of
the current three, has 998 inmates, two shy of its capacity according to
MDOC.
Nov 23, 2016 djournal.com
Private prison locked down following fight, inmate death
HOLLY SPRINGS – A state prisoner was killed in an early morning fight at
a private prison in Marshall County. According to the Mississippi Department
of Corrections, Oscar Pirtle died from injuries following an altercation with
another prisoner at the Marshall County Correctional Facility. Jailers at the
prison, operated by the Management & Training Corporation, responded to a
fight in one of the housing units around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. Pirtle, 51, was
convicted of aggravated assault in March 2010 in Alcorn County and sentenced
to 15 years in prison. The second inmate was treated at a local hospital and
released. The 200-bed facility was placed on temporary lockdown while
officials restored order and investigated the incident.
Jan 26, 2016 wtva.com
Prison lockdown lifted, movement restricted at two private prisons
JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) -- A lockdown has been lifted at one Mississippi
prison while movement is restricted and privileges suspended at two private
prisons in the state. A Mississippi Department of Corrections spokesperson
says South Mississippi Correctional Facility was placed on lockdown after a
corrections officer was assaulted at the prison. After an investigation, the
lockdown was lifted Tuesday morning.
The private prisons affected are Bolivar County Regional Facility and
Housing Units Bravo and Delta at the Marshall County Correctional Facility.
State officials are checking to see what prompted the restrictions at those
two facilities. The state contracts with private companies to house inmates
at Bolivar and Marshall County.
Mar
24, 2015 clarionledger.com
Corrections officials conducted a shakedown Wednesday at the Marshall County
Correctional Facility, seizing weapons, cellphones and other contraband at
the private prison that could lead to criminal prosecutions. “We believe
there were some staff complicit in bringing in contraband,” Corrections
Commissioner Marshall Fisher said. “One has already resigned. We think as
many as four are involved.” He said the seizure of many shanks and cellphones
at five prisons so far, public and private, show working as a correctional
officer is a dangerous job. Legislation is now pending that would increase the
starting salary for correctional officers of $22,006 (which qualifies a
family of three for food stamps) and for probation officers (about $27,000)
by 10 percent. The last time they got a pay raise was in 2007. Fisher said he
believes increasing the pay can help corrections officials hire more
qualified officers and also aid in reducing corruption. On Wednesday,
corrections officials seized 23 shanks from the 991-inmate Marshall County
prison, which is run by the Management and Training Corporation. Officials
seized:
•25
shanks at the 3,101–inmate State Penitentiary at Parchman,
run by the state.
•36
shanks at the 2,453-inmate South Mississippi Correctional Institution, run by
the state.
•60
shanks at the 885-inmate Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, run by MTC.
•50
shanks at the 1,180-inmate East Mississippi Correctional Facility, run by
MTC.
Former
U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott of Jackson said the numbers so far suggest the
problem of weapons is worse at private prisons. “This makes clear that
corporate prisons are much more dangerous places to work.” He said the number
of shanks seized per capita from the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility
was eight times higher than those seized at the State Penitentiary at Parchman. Private prisons are taking dollars, “which
could have gone into hiring enough guards to find and remove knives from
prisoners, and they are sending those tax dollars instead to their corporate
headquarters,” he said. MTC spokesman Issa Arnita said contraband is a
problem at all prisons in the United States. “We take contraband extremely
seriously,” he said. “Contraband puts both staff and inmates in danger, and
we’re working tirelessly to reduce the amount of contraband that enters our
facilities.” Since taking over four Mississippi facilities in 2012 and 2013,
MTC has worked with state corrections officials to install a body scanner in
the entrance and a 30-foot netting to prevent contraband from being tossed
over the facilities’ fences. “MTC has also created a K-9 team consisting of
two highly trained, contraband-sniffing German Shepherds and three
correctional officers to make unannounced visits to all four facilities,”
Arnita said. “This new K-9 team has discovered and confiscated dozens of
contraband over the last few months.” He said the private prison “has a
zero-tolerance policy when it comes to staff members who attempt to break the
law and introduce contraband into our facilities. Staff members caught
attempting to bring contraband into our facilities will not only be
terminated but will be criminally prosecuted to the highest extent of the
law.”
June 7, 2012 WTOK
MTC will officially take over operation at East Mississippi Correctional
Facility on July 9th. The company got its start working with young people
outside the corrections system. The Vice President of Corrections at MTC
explained the company's history via a video news release. "We started 30
years ago by providing training for young adults to succeed in life,"
says Odie Washington, "we've taken that and applied it to our corrections
division. "All you are going to see is a change in the name over the
door," that's the opinion of Frank Smith, a private prison watchdog,
"it's not going to be a change in operations." Smith works as a
consultant for Private Corrections Working Group. "The problem is there
is such turnover that there is no mentoring process so everybody is just kind
of new on the job, and they don't know what to do when the problems
arise." MTC officials say they plan on providing EMCF with all the resources
it needs to operate effectively. "We'll provide each facility the
resources necessary for them to operate safely and effectively," says
Washington, and we look forward to applying these high standards to our new
Mississippi facilities as well." Only time will tell whether MTC will
have a successful run in the Magnolia State.
June 7, 2012 AP
A Utah-based private prison operator will take over management of three
Mississippi correctional institutions beginning in July. Management &
Training Corporation of Centreville, Utah, has signed 10-year operating
contracts for the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap
community beginning July 2; Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in
Walnut Grove on July 9; and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in
Holly Springs on Aug. 13. Financial details of the contracts were not made
public. The announcement came Thursday by the company and the Mississippi
Department of Corrections. The Corrections Department and the GEO Group of
Boca Raton, Fla., in April agreed to end GEO's management contract at the
three prisons. At the time Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps told the AP
that the department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons
were presented as a package to other corrections management companies.
"The Mississippi Department of Corrections is looking forward to a great
partnership with MTC," Epps said in a statement Thursday. "There is
a need for different types of prisons, including state and regional as well
as private facilities in Mississippi. MTC will be held to the same high
standards as set by MDOC and I feel extremely confident that MTC will do a
great job." "We look forward to the opportunity to work in
Mississippi," said MTC senior vice president of corrections Odie
Washington in the statement. "We have partnered with state and federal
governments in operating correctional facilities for the past 25 years, and
have a strong record of providing safe, secure and well-run facilities."
May 20, 2012 WLBT
A celebration in Smith Park commemorated changes at Walnut Grove Youth
Correctional Facility. The Friends and Family Members of Youth Incarcerated
at Walnut Grove held a rally Sunday morning. Parents of children at the
facility thanked department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps for ending
the private prison contract with the GEO Group. They said their children were
mistreated under the company's management from being denied medical treatment
to education. "I would like to urge the commissioner to continue to do
the right thing by our children and to not allow another private, for profit
company to take over Walnut Grove," said Walnut Grove parent Kimberly
Carson. "The GEO Group is making money off of these young men. They
don't seem willing to spend any of that money to make sure they have been
properly rehabilitated," said Walnut Grove parent Marietta Larry. GEO
managed Walnut Grove and the East Mississippi and Marshall County
Correctional facilities until last month.
April 20, 2012 AP
The Mississippi Department of Corrections says GEO Group Inc., one of the
country's largest private prison operators, will no longer manage three
facilities in Mississippi. On Thursday, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based company
said it was backing out of a contract to manage the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap community by July 19. Company
officials told The Associated Press on Friday that it had nothing else to
say. Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps told the AP on Friday that the
department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons were
presented as a package to other corrections management companies. Epps said
he would expect GEO Group to end its ties to the Walnut Grove Youth
Correctional Facility in Walnut Grove and Marshall County Correctional
Facility in Holly Springs by July 20. "We feel this may be a golden
opportunity to provide a better price for the taxpayers of the state and at
the same time maybe do a better job in the operation of the facilities,"
Epps said. "That's what I would like to see." Epps said there was
some concern at MDOC about incidents at all three prisons. The Walnut Grove
facility is presently under a federal court order to remove juvenile inmates
amid allegations of physical and sexual abuse. That court order came in a
settlement of a lawsuit filed against Walnut Grove in 2010. GEO Group has
repeatedly declined to comment on the lawsuit. Epps has said his plan is to
send the 17-and-younger inmates to Central Mississippi Correctional Facility
in Rankin County by Oct. 1. He said there are about 1,000 vacant beds at that
prison now, so there is no need for a new building. Walnut Grove also houses
adults. They would remain there under a settlement that ended a 2010 lawsuit.
Epps said Friday that local authority boards deal with management contracts
at EMCF and Walnut Grove with MDOC help. He said MDOC works directly with
vendors at Marshall County. "There are a lot of these management
companies out there. We're reaching out to those private operators to see
what the best proposal is we might get," he said. In its announcement,
GEO chairman/CEO George C. Zoley said EMCF was
"financially underperforming." GEO Group vice president Pablo E. Paez said Friday the company would have no other comment.
April 19, 2009 AP
The Mississippi Supreme Court has reinstated a lawsuit filed by a former
inmate at the Marshall County Correctional Facility over conditions at the
private prison. The Supreme Court said Thursday that a Marshall County judge
erred in dismissing the lawsuit. The justices said the judge erroneously
considered Dennis Dobbs' lawsuit as an appeal of his assault conviction in
Clay County. Dobbs has completed his sentenced and has been released,
according to court records. Dobbs had sued in 2006 over conditions at the
prison near Holly Springs. He complained of a lack of air conditioning and
fire safety concerns. The Supreme Court says Dobbs' lawsuit for what he
characterized as "inhumane" conditions at the Marshall County
prison should be heard.
April 5, 2001
An autopsy shows a 24-year-old inmate from Shannon, Mississippi died of head
injuries apparently inflicted during a confrontation with other prisoners,
state officials say. Daniel Underwood was pronounced dead this past
weekend at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis. Chris Epps, the
Corrections Department's deputy commissioner of institutions, said Monday an
investigation showed Underwood was attacked by another inmate at the Marshall
County Correctional Facility on March
27.
said a second inmate apparently assisted in the attack by standing in a
position that kept security personnel from seeing the incident. The
Marshall County prison is managed by Wackenhut Corrections Corporation. (AP)
August 8, 2001
Hours before they made controversial 11th-hour changes to legislation this
year that would guarantee private prisons more state funding, two Mississippi Department of
Corrections
GEO Group, MTC, Wexford (formerly run by Correctional Medical Services)
Indictment in USA vs
Chriss Epp -- McCrory July 2016
MDOC Sticks
with Private Prisons: Jackson Free Press, June 13, 2012.
MDOC chooses MTC to take over where GEO failed. What are they smoking?
Sep 21, 2021 djournal.com
MDOC
takes over Marshall County prison
HOLLY
SPRINGS . After 25 years as a private prison, the
Marshall County Correctional Facility is now being run by the Mississippi
Department of Corrections. MDOC commissioner Burl Cain said workforce issues
prompted the change. The private company contracted to operate the 1,000-bed
medium security prison was having trouble getting and retaining staff.
"It is difficult to hire that close to Memphis," Cain said.
""We raised the pay to $15, which (Management Training Corporation)
couldn't do." Cain said the company runs numerous prisons across the
country, all of which have a consistent rate of pay. "They couldn't
raise pay at one facility and not at others," Cain said. DOC tried to
rehire as many of the MTC workers as possible. Because of state hiring
requirements, former employees had to reapply, and be interviewed and vetted
again. Because the state department has a qualification process to ensure an
employee's skills and experience match his or her position, the state
couldn't offer former employees their original positions back. As of Monday,
MCCF had 89 employees but will need more as the facility adapts to its new
mission. Officials plan to reduce the number of prisoners and increase
reentry training. "We also want to change the mission," Cain said.
"(MTC) had worked it out with the previous administration to house
maximum security prisoners. It was not designed for maximum security, so we
removed those." Cain said the prison will shift its focus to helping
inmates return to society. "We want to focus more on reentry training,
including teaching the prisoners coding, which is highly desirable in the
computer industry right now," Cain said. "We want to change the
whole mission of the facility." To make the reentry program more cost
effective, Cain hopes to use inmates as instructors whenever possible.
"The inmates are a great and untapped resource," he said. "I
did it at Angola (the Louisiana State Penitentiary), and it worked
well." Cain also plans to reduce the population of the facility in the
coming weeks. MTC was contracted to house 900 inmates but lacked the staff to
support that number. DOC took over the facility on Sept. 13. After removing
the maximum security and other prisoners, the number was down to 775 on
Monday. Cain said he'd like to decrease the population even more. "We
would like to see it get down to maybe 500," he said. The number of
prisoners has been dropping across the state. Currently, MDOC has 16,200
prisoners statewide right now. That number is low, but it is expected to get
even lower as the department conducts a new round of parole hearings.
"If we are successful with the reentry program and people commit less
crime, then we are doing our job - correcting deviant behavior," Cain
said. "We are at a good place right now. We want to keep the criminals
in jail that hurt us and let out the others to be productive members of
society. We want them to be tax payers, not tax
takers." The Marshall County facility sits on 42 acres (17 acres fenced)
on the north side of Holly Springs. It was opened in 1996 and designed to
house only male prisoners. With it transitioning to state control, that
leaves just two private prisons (East Mississippi CF in Meridian and
Wilkerson County CF in Woodville) in the DOC system. key state senators dined at an upscale restaurant
here with executives and lobbyists from one of those prison companies.
"I try to report everything I do - what I pay for," said Al Sage, a
lobbyist for Wackenhut Corrections Corp., which runs a private 1,000-bed
prison in Holly Springs. Sage readily acknowledged the dinner but said
he didn't pay for it. So he didn't report it. Rather, said Sage,
executives from Wackenhut picked up the tab for Sens. Jack Gordon (D-Okolona)
and Bunky Huggins (R-Greenwood) - two of three senators who had to approve
the crucial change in the final version of the bill. And since
Wackenhut officials, not Sage, purchased the meal, it won't appear on any
disclosure forms until 2002 at the earliest. Companies that hire
lobbyist file annual reports every January. (AP)
March 28, 2001
The president of the company running Marshall County Correctional Facility
says Mississippi should honor its commitment to fill the 1,000-bed private
prison--even though the state's corrections commissioner says it doesn't have
the inmates to do so. Wayne Calabrese, president and chief operating officers
of Florida-based Wackenhut Correction Corp., said Tuesday that the number of
inmates at the prison is important to operations. "I think it's fair to
say the state invited private companies into the state of Mississippi to
design, build and operate facilities to the states specifications and size.
We want to make sure the price we gave the state, which was based on full or
nearly full occupancy, is in fact what we receive," Calabrese said.
Taxpayers would have to pay about $2 million a year to private prisons and
about $4 million to 10 regional prisons for "ghost inmates"
according to Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson. Johnson said the state
doesn't have inmates to meet the obligations under bill. (Clarion Ledger)
May 22, 2020
clarionledger.com
Jailed
ex-MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps, wife must pay $69,489 in state taxes
Imprisoned
former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps and his
wife must pay nearly $70,000 in state income taxes after a court ruling. In
an order issued Tuesday, the state Court of Appeals affirmed a Hinds County
Chancery Court ruling dismissing Epps' and his wife
Catherlean's appeal of a Department of Revenue's
order for the couple to pay $69,489 in individual income tax for 2007-2014
tax years. Epps was MDOC commissioner from 2002 to 2014. After resigning on
Nov. 5, 2014, he was indicted on charges of accepting bribes and kickbacks in
exchange for contracts and illicit activity with various corrections
facilities. Epps was sentenced in May 2017 by U.S. District Judge Henry
Wingate to almost 20 years in federal prison and fined $100,000 for running
one of the largest and longest criminal conspiracies in the state's history. Epps' wife was never implicated in any wrongdoing. A
49-count federal indictment accused Epps of taking at least $1.4 million in
bribes and kickbacks to steer more than $800 million worth of state prison
contracts. He pleaded guilty in February 2015 to bribery and filing a false
income tax return. A Department of Revenue audit determined the Eppses owed the additional taxes and issued an assessment
letter dated Oct. 23, 2017. The Eppses appealed to a Department of Revenue review board and later to
Hinds County Chancery Court. But Hinds County Chancery Judge Tiffany Grove
dismissed the Eppses appeal last year, agreeing
with the Department of Revenue that the couple had missed the deadline by one
day to file an appeal in chancery court. But McGee said: "Nowhere in
this statute is it explained to the taxpayer how to properly calculate those
60 days."
Nov 30, 2019 nola.com
Louisiana
businessmen ensnared in Mississippi prison corruption case await sentencing
A
Louisiana father-and-son duo who built private prison contracting firms worth
millions of dollars are now awaiting sentencing to federal prison after
admitting they tried to bribe their way into business at Mississippi lockups.
The federal criminal case against Michael LeBlanc Sr. and Michael LeBlanc
Jr., plus two of their former business partners, stemmed from a massive
corruption scandal in Mississippi that took down a number
of local officials and businessmen. It also ensnared that state's
former corrections commissioner, Christopher Epps, who took at least $1.4
million in bribes from prison contractors. LeBlanc Sr., of Baton Rouge, who
first entered the prison business as an architect before building a large
Louisiana-based private prison firm as well as prison service companies, in
October pleaded guilty in federal court in Mississippi in October to a single
count of conspiring to defraud the United States. LeBlanc Jr., 42, of
Prairieville, along with Tawasky Ventroy, 60, of Opelousas, and Jacque Jackson, 51, of
LaPlace, all pleaded guilty to the same charge as LeBlanc Sr. In return,
federal prosecutors dropped two other counts against all four men for bribery
involving federal programs. All four now face up to five years in prison and
fines of up to $250,000 each. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate, who has
presided over most of the cases springing from the Epps scandal, is scheduled
to sentence them early next year. Attorneys for the LeBlancs,
Ventroy and Jackson all declined to comment. So did
the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of
Mississippi, which handled the case. LeBlanc Sr., 71, built a private prison
firm called LCS Corrections with his late brother, Patrick, which he sold,
along with eight LCS Corrections-owned lockups, to the publicly traded prison
operator GEO Group Inc. in 2015 for $307 million. GEO Group financial
documents show that $298 million of the sale price went to cover debts.
LeBlanc then went on to build a pair of companies — American Telephone
Systems and Brothers Commissary — that contract with sheriffs and private
prison companies to operate prisoner phones and run shops that sell snacks,
toiletries and other items to prisoners. Those companies had contracts with
at least 14 Louisiana sheriffs and at least one privately run prison in
Louisiana when federal prosecutors announced charges against LeBlanc, his son
and associates last year. LeBlanc’s architecture firm, MWL Architects,
designed a number of jails in Louisiana and at least
five in Mississippi. It’s unclear if the LeBlancs
have maintained control of the companies since their guilty pleas. Michael
LeBlanc Jr. is still listed as the registered agent for Brothers Commissary
Services LLC in business filings with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s
Office. Michael LeBlanc Sr. filed paperwork to change the name of MWL
Architects to MWL Developers Inc. the day after pleading guilty in federal
court. A house in Lafayette listed as the firm’s headquarters on business
filings with the state didn’t display any signs for the business, and no one
responded to knocks at the door or a note left seeking comment. The LeBlancs, Ventroy and Jackson
were ensnared in a sprawling federal criminal investigation called Operation
Mississippi Hustle. Before Epps, the former Mississippi prison boss, was
publicly charged with taking bribes, he cut a deal with federal investigators
to allow them to record his conversations. That arrangement led to a number of federal convictions of vendors who plied Epps
with cash. Epps is now serving a nearly 20-year prison sentence. LeBlanc Sr.
was caught on one such recording talking about a kickback to Epps in October
2014 in order to help American Telephone Systems land contracts with
Mississippi state-run prisons, according to the indictment. Ventroy, a partner in the phone business, delivered
$2,000 in cash to Epps later that month. In December 2014, Jackson handed
Kemper County Sheriff James Moore “a minimum” of $2,000 in chips in the
bathroom of the Golden Nugget casino in Biloxi in an effort to steer
contracts for the county jail toward their businesses, according to the
indictment. Federal authorities maintain that Moore was voluntarily working
undercover for federal investigators and “was never a subject” of the
corruption investigation. Michael LeBlanc Sr., his family and companies have
been prolific political donors over the years in Louisiana and had previously
come under scrutiny. A sheriff in Bexar County, Texas, pleaded guilty to
misdemeanor charges for accepting a free trip to Costa Rica from LeBlanc Sr.
and his since-deceased brother and failing to report the contribution. A 1996
report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office accused one of
LeBlanc’s firms of colluding with then-Morehouse Parish Sheriff Frank Carroll
to provide false information to land a $3.2 million loan to build a new jail.
The construction project, the audit charged, then racked up more than
$500,000 in unexplained cost overruns. The LeBlancs
were never charged in either case and dismissed the audit as politically
motivated.
Oct 4, 2019 wwltv.com
4
Louisiana men plead guilty in Mississippi bribe scheme
U.S.
District Judge Henry T. Wingate set Feb. 10 sentencing hearings for the men.
Four
Louisiana men have pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe Mississippi’s former
corrections commissioner and trying to bribe a Mississippi sheriff. Michael
LeBlanc Sr. of Baton Rouge, Michael LeBlanc Jr. of Prairieville, Tawasky Ventroy of Opelousas
and Jacque Jones of LaPlace each entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal
court in Jackson to one count of conspiracy. All four men say they paid
former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps a $2,000 bribe
in 2014 and promised him future bribes to secure his help in influencing
sheriffs, especially those with regional jails overseen by the state, to let
them sell phone service and commissary goods to inmates. They also admit to
giving Kemper County Sheriff James Moore $2,000 in casino chips in an
unsuccessful attempt to bribe him. Epps was convicted of taking more than
$1.4 million in bribes from private contractors and is serving a nearly
20-year federal prison sentence in Texas. U.S. District Judge Henry T.
Wingate set Feb. 10 sentencing hearings for the men. Each faces up to five
years in prison, but will likely be sentenced to
less. The sentencing could mark the end of the corruption investigation
surrounding Epps. Evidence presented in court Wednesday shows that the elder
LeBlanc, now 71, met with a confidential informant in October 2014 about
influencing Epps and was told “Epps would have his hand out.” Epps had a
history of pushing particular vendors, some of whom
were bribing him. Prosecutors say Ventroy, a
LeBlanc partner in American Phone Systems, delivered a $2,000 cash bribe to
Epps later in October 2014 in Epps’ Jackson office.
About the same time, Michael LeBlanc Jr. called Kemper County Sheriff James
Moore, seeking phone and commissary contracts. But LeBlanc didn’t know Moore
was acting as an undercover informant for the FBI and was recording the phone
call. On Nov. 19, Jones met with Moore and discussed bribing the sheriff for
a contract. Evidence states Michael LeBlanc Jr. used $2,000 in cash to buy
casino chips during a December conference at a Biloxi casino and gave them to
Jackson to give to Moore in a restroom. Jackson also promised Moore another
$1,000 once contracts were signed. Jackson admitted the casino chip bribe to
the FBI in January 2015, although the four defendants weren’t indicted until
October 2018. The elder LeBlanc designed at least five jails in Mississippi.
Development of jails in Alcorn and Chickasaw counties was spearheaded by
former state Sen. Irb Benjamin. The ex-lawmaker
acknowledged bribing Epps to ensure the state would provide enough inmates to
make the jails profitable for the counties. Benjamin remains in federal
prison in Arkansas. LeBlanc previously was an owner of private prison company
LCS Corrections Services, selling it to GEO Group for $307 million in 2015.
Of the price, $298 million went to repay debt, GEO financial documents show.
LeBlanc and his deceased brother, Patrick, faced scrutiny in San Antonio in
2007 over donations when their company was providing commissary services. The
Bexar County sheriff resigned and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges after
accepting a free trip to Costa Rica from the LeBlancs.
The sheriff's campaign manager pleaded guilty to taking charitable donations
and campaign contributions, diverting $32,000 to his personal use, according
to published accounts. The LeBlancs were never
charged in Texas.
Aug
20, 2019 neworleanscitybusiness.com
4
Louisiana men to plead guilty in Mississippi bribe scheme
Four
Louisiana men say they’ll plead guilty to charges that they tried to bribe a
Mississippi sheriff with $2,000 in casino chips, seeking lucrative jail
contracts. Michael LeBlanc Sr. of Baton Rouge, Michael LeBlanc Jr. of
Prairieville, Tawasky Ventroy
of Opelousas and Jacque Jones of LaPlace have filed notices this month in
federal court in Jackson saying they will change their previous not guilty
pleas. All are accused of scheming to win contracts to sell inmates phone
service and commissary goods at a jail in Mississippi’s Kemper County.
They’re also accused of paying former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner
Christopher Epps $2,000 and promising him future bribes to secure his help in
influencing sheriffs, especially those with regional jails overseen by the
state. Epps was convicted of taking more than $1.4 million in bribes from
private contractors and is serving a nearly 20-year federal prison sentence
in Texas. U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate has set an Oct. 2 plea hearing
in Jackson for the four men, who all remain free on bail. The September
indictments were a long-delayed continuation of the corruption investigation
surrounding Epps. The conspiracy and bribery charges would carry sentences of
up to 15 years in prison. Court papers don’t say to which charges the four
will plead. The elder LeBlanc started out in the prison industry as an architect, but branched into other services and once was
an owner of a large private prison company. Federal prosecutors say the elder
LeBlanc talked to Epps in October 2014, hoping to win contracts for phone and
commissary services. By then, Epps was already cooperating with the FBI.
Private vendors sell phone calls and goods to prisoners. Epps had a history
of pushing particular vendors, some of whom were
bribing him, according to authorities. Prosecutors say Ventroy,
a LeBlanc employee, delivered a $2,000 cash bribe to Epps later in October
2014. Then, Michael LeBlanc Jr. met with Kemper County Sheriff James Moore.
What they didn’t know, according to the indictment, is that Moore was working
undercover for the FBI when he took $2,000 in casino chips from the younger
LeBlanc in a Biloxi casino restroom in December 2014. The indictment alleges
Moore was promised additional future bribes. The elder LeBlanc designed at
least five jails in the state. Development of two jails — in Alcorn and
Chickasaw counties — was spearheaded by former state Sen. Irb
Benjamin. The ex-lawmaker acknowledged bribing Epps to ensure the state would
provide enough inmates to make jails financially profitable for the counties.
Benjamin remains in federal prison in Arkansas. LeBlanc previously was an
owner of private prison company LCS Corrections Services, selling it to GEO
Group for $307 million in 2015. Of the price, $298 million went to repay
debt, GEO financial documents show. LeBlanc and his deceased brother,
Patrick, faced scrutiny in San Antonio in 2007 over donations when their
company was providing commissary services. The Bexar County sheriff resigned
and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges after accepting a free trip to
Costa Rica from the LeBlancs. The sheriff’s
campaign manager pleaded guilty to taking thousands of dollars in charitable
donations and campaign contributions, diverting $32,000 to his personal use,
according to published accounts. The LeBlancs were
never charged in Texas.
Jun 20, 2019 magnoliastatelive.com
Former prison worker admits she took money to sneak contraband to federal
inmates
A
former corrections counselor at a private prison in Mississippi pleaded
guilty Wednesday to taking bribes from prisoners to bring contraband into the
prison. Kellie Fuqua, 57, of Roxie, Mississippi, and a former corrections
counselor at the Adams County Correctional Center, pleaded guilty before
Senior U.S. District Judge David Bramlette III to
accepting bribes from federal prisoners in exchange for introducing
contraband into the facility, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special
Agent in Charge Eric Feldman with the Department of Justice – Office of
Inspector General’s Miami Field Office. Fuqua was charged in a one-count
Criminal Information with being a public official receiving money in exchange
for providing contraband to federal prisoners. Fuqua is scheduled to be
sentenced by Judge Bramlette on October 1, 2019, at
2:00 p.m. in Natchez. She faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and
a $250,000 fine. This case was investigated by the Department of Justice –
Office of Inspector General, and is being prosecuted
by Assistant United States Attorney Dave Fulcher.
Jan 25, 2019 mrt.com
Mississippi: $27M from contractors in prison bribery case
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said Thursday
that his office is collecting nearly $27 million from contractors involved in
bribing a former head of the state prison system. The money comes from 11
lawsuits filed in February 2017. The lawsuits said the contractors used
consultants to influence Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps, who
resigned in 2014 after a dozen years on the job. Epps acknowledged accepting
more than $1.4 million in bribes and pleaded guilty in 2015. He is serving a
nearly 20-year federal prison sentence. Hood said more than $10 million of
the money is going into the general state budget, nearly $7 million is going
to the Department of Corrections and more than $6 million is for fees and
expenses of attorneys who sued on behalf of the state. "These companies
— they had to pay and pay dearly," Hood said during a news conference in
his Jackson office. He said one of the companies, Branan
Medical Corporation, which has drug-testing products, made a contract profit
of $450,000 and will pay the state $2 million. Global Tel-Link Corporation,
which provides telephone services for inmates, made a profit of $750,000 and
will pay the state $2.5 million, he said. "We did more than just
disgorge them of their ill-gotten gains," Hood said. "We recovered
more." The other collections from the lawsuits, according to Hood:
— $5.2 million from a private
prison company, Management & Training Corporation.
— $4.6 million from another private prison operator, Cornell Companies Inc.
(GEO Group).
— $4 million from a prison health care provider, Wexford Health Sources Inc.
— $3.1 million from a commissary management services company, Keefe
Commissary Network LLC.
— $3.1 million from C. N. W. Construction Company.
— $1.3 million from an offender tracking and monitoring company, Sentinel
Offender Services LLC.
— $750,000 from CGL Facility Management LLC, which provides correctional
maintenance services.
— $32,188 from AdminPros LLC, which provides
Medicaid eligibility services.
— $100,000 from insurance agent Guy E. "Butch" Evans.
One company sued by the state, prison health care provider Health Assurance
LLC, went into bankruptcy and will not pay the state.
Oct 5, 2018 theadvocate.com
Four Louisiana men accused in prison bribery scheme in Mississippi
Federal prosecutors in Jackson, Mississippi, have accused Michael LeBlanc
Sr., of Baton Rouge — who helped build a large Louisiana-based private prison
firm and now runs phone and commissary services in more than a dozen
Louisiana jails — of paying bribes to Christopher Epps, the since-disgraced
commissioner of corrections in Mississippi, and a Mississippi sheriff who was
working undercover for the FBI. Charged alongside LeBlanc, 70, are three
other Louisiana men who worked for him: Tawasky Ventroy, 59, of Opelousas; Jacque Jackson, 50, of
LaPlace; and LeBlanc’s son, Michael LeBlanc Jr., 40, of Prairieville. The
three-count indictment charging the four men was handed up Sept. 19 but was
kept sealed until Thursday, when they were arrested, according to federal
authorities. They are due to be arraigned in Jackson on Oct. 16. Epps is
serving a nearly 20-year prison sentence in Texas after admitting he took at
least $1.4 million in bribes from numerous prison contractors. Before he was
publicly charged, he cut a plea deal and allowed the feds to record his
conversations with vendors, leading to at least a half-dozen convictions. The
bribes that prosecutors say they caught LeBlanc and his cohorts paying Epps
were much smaller than many he took. But the indictment makes clear that some
of the conversations about the illicit payments — including one between
LeBlanc and Epps in October 2014 — were caught on tape. According to court
documents, Jackson and Ventroy acted as couriers
for the bribes, which were aimed at helping the LeBlancs
land more contracts for their commissary and phone businesses. Prosecutors
say Ventroy delivered $2,000 in cash to Epps on
Oct. 21, 2014, and that on Dec. 8 of that year, Jackson handed Kemper County
Sheriff James Moore “a minimum of” $2,000 in casino chips in the bathroom of
the Golden Nugget casino in Biloxi. Authorities emphasized that Moore
“voluntarily assisted” federal investigators and “was never a subject” of
their probe. LeBlanc’s commissary business, Brothers Commissary, has
contracts with at least 14 Louisiana sheriffs, plus the J.B. Evans
Correctional Center, a privately run prison in Tensas Parish owned by GEO
Group, according to its website. Many of the sheriffs are in southeastern
Louisiana. The prison phone company, American Telephone Systems, does not
have a public roster of clients. LeBlanc also owns an architectural firm, MWL
Architects, that has designed at least five jails in Mississippi. In 2015,
LeBlanc Sr. sold LCS Corrections Services, the private prison company he
built with his late brother, Patrick, to the GEO Group. The deal included
eight prisons that LCS owned and operated in Louisiana, Texas and
Mississippi. The purchase price was $307 million, although $298 million of
that went to repay debt, GEO financial documents show. LeBlanc is not related
to James LeBlanc, Louisiana's corrections secretary. The four men charged in
the scheme each face up to 15 years in prison. It wasn't immediately clear
who their lawyers are. Phone calls to LeBlanc and his businesses weren't
returned Thursday. LeBlanc, his companies, relatives and associates have
donated more than $200,000 to political candidates, mainly in Louisiana,
according to records from the National Institute on Money in State Politics.
LeBlanc and his deceased brother faced scrutiny in San Antonio in 2007 over
donations to the Bexar County sheriff and the sheriff's campaign manager when
the LeBlancs' company was providing commissary
services to inmates. The sheriff resigned and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor
charges for accepting a free trip to Costa Rica from LeBlanc and his brother
and not reporting the contribution. The campaign manager pleaded guilty to
taking thousands of dollars in charitable donations and campaign
contributions, diverting $32,000 of it to his personal use, according to
published accounts. The LeBlancs were never charged
in Texas. LeBlanc also came under criticism in 1996 from Louisiana’s
legislative auditor, who charged that one of LeBlanc’s firms colluded with
the Morehouse Parish sheriff to provide false information to secure a $3.2
million loan for a new jail there. The audit also said LeBlanc and the
sheriff, Frank Carroll, couldn’t explain cost overruns of more than $500,000.
No charges were filed in that case, and LeBlanc dismissed the audit as
politically motivated.
Apr 26, 2018 jacksonfreepress.com
Sheriffs Decry Cutbacks, Private Prison Contracts
JACKSON — Mississippi sheriffs packed into Room 113 at the Capitol Monday
to express frustrations after the Mississippi Department of Corrections
announced a reduction in inmates housed at the 15 regional facilities in the
state even as taxpayer money is going to fund private, corporate-operated
prisons. MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall said she
had no choice fiscally but to pull inmates out of regional facilities. MDOC
had budget problems at the start of 2018 and asked the Legislature to help
fund its budget deficit. The Legislature came up with $7 million to fund
MDOC's request for the state's private-prison bond obligations and medical
costs for inmates—but stopped short of providing the $3.6 million deficit the
department requested for the regional correctional facilities. Even House
Corrections Committee Chairman Bill Kinkade, R-Byhalia, admitted the
challenges in corrections funding on Monday. "The fact is we have
funding issues in corrections. That's not a revelation to anybody," he
said. "There have been some deficit-spending issues, and all of them
haven't been addressed." MDOC currently houses medium- and low-custody
inmates at the 15 regional facilities, run by 22 counties and local sheriff
departments in the state. The counties own these regional facilities, and
MDOC pays the counties at a range from $20 to $29.74 per inmate per day,
depending on the county's bond indebtedness. Counties and sheriffs use these
funds to help pay off bonds or balance their budgets. If the department
removes inmates from regional jails, local counties and sheriffs' departments
will receive less funding than they do currently from MDOC to house state
inmates. William Allen, an attorney who represents the Mississippi Sheriffs'
Association, pointed out that the State initially asked the counties to build
the regional facilities back in the late 1990s and early 2000s to house the
ballooning state prison population. The State also contracted with
private-prison contractors to operate facilities they built during this time.
Fast forward two decades, however, and Mississippi passed substantial
criminal-justice reform measures in 2014 that led to a drop in inmate
population statewide, lessening the need for cells. MDOC closed the Walnut
Grove Correctional Facility in 2016, citing budget reasons and less need for
space. "We're struggling financially; we're struggling to keep the
lights on in these facilities," Allen told lawmakers on Monday. Allen
and sheriffs questioned the State maintaining contracts with private prison
corporations when they are cutting funding to regional and local jailers at
the same time. Some sheriffs testified about being unable to repair their
buildings or keep prison guards employed without funding for adequate
salaries. "Unfortunately, the regional jails weren't funded while the
private prisons were. The private facilities have been funded, and you may
have seen one of these facilities in the news lately," Allen said
referring to the class-action lawsuit against the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility in Meridian brought by prisoners for lack of treatment
and bad conditions. Commissioner Hall is in a tough spot, however. The State
contracts with the Management and Training Corporation to run the three
operational private prisons; those contracts were signed before her tenure
began. Those agreements require certain inmate population levels and payment
guarantees. "There's a prison-population guarantee that the State is
required to have with those facilities," Hall told lawmakers on Monday.
"... And to remove those potential inmates, the State would have to
basically renegotiate or re-do those particular contracts whereby we're not
obligated to fill those beds." Additionally, Hall said that the private
prisons house medium- to high-security level inmates, as well as inmates with
special mental-health needs like at EMCF, while the regional facilities house
state inmates considered to be low- or medium-custody. With the Legislature's
criminal-justice reforms, Hall said the dynamics of the prison system will
change over time. "Ultimately, the low-level offenders are not going to
be the ones spending those long sentences in the county jails, and that's
just the nature of the beast that comes with criminal-justice reform,"
she said. "I think in this state we built too many prisons, and we were
over-incarcerating at some point. Well, the trend has turned." MDOC pays
about $41.74 per inmate per day in a private prison, Hall said. At the
Capitol on Monday, she said that the contract for Wilkinson County
Correctional Facility is up for renewal in June this year, and she is having
her staff prepare a request-for-proposal for contractors to bid on. She said
she is also considering bringing the operations there back in-house. The
State still owes more than $217 million in bond indebtedness on private
prisons, and taxpayers will pay for those bonds, including for the closed
Walnut Grove, until 2027, MDOC numbers show. These bond costs are in addition
to the State's contractual obligations to MTC to operate the facilities and
to other contractors such as Centene Corporation to provide medical care in
the state's prison system. County taxpayers in the 22 counties that issued
bonds to open regional prisons will have to foot the bill for those
facilities, however, which is why the room was tense on Monday. There are
about 3,000 inmates in the state's three private prisons, while regional
facilities house more than 4,000 inmates. "Ultimately, it comes down to
funding, and just like you all have needs and issues in your regional
facilities, we have them in the Department of Corrections, too," Hall
said.
Mar 7, 2018 jacksonfreepress.com
Private Prison Trial Starts Today Over Alleged Squalor, Rats, Deaths
JACKSON — Rats crawling out of toilets. Cells with no lights. Inmates
dying in solitary confinement with zip ties around their wrists and ankles.
This is a sample of the laundry list of deficiencies the Southern Poverty Law
Center and the ACLU National Prison Project outlined in a lawsuit filed in
2013 against the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Inmates housed at the
East Mississippi Correctional Facility alleged squalor conditions, solitary
confinement practices, lack of medical and mental health care, and an overall
unsafe environment. Five years later, the case goes to trial before U.S.
District Judge William Barbour today. Jody Owens, the managing attorney at
SPLC who was in the facility last week, describes EMCF as in "consistent
chaos." He said four inmates have died in the last two months alone.
"Our investigations support that two have been overdoses, one has been
an individual who could not get the help he needed as he choked on his
lunch," Owens told reporters last week. "That has been the history
of East Mississippi from then to now—a lack of security, safety and
staff." EMCF is one of three state private prisons that the Utah-based
Management and Training Corporation operates, mostly in southern states. Of
the 1,200 inmates there, the facility primarily houses inmates with
mental-health issues or special medical needs. The lawsuit charges that MDOC
has not done its part to ensure that contractors are keeping prisoners safe
and healthy. SPLC and the ACLU began their investigation of the facility in
2011 and sent then-MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps a letter demanding changes to
the facility. MDOC declined, and Owens said MDOC has refused to settle the
case twice during the last five years of litigation. MDOC for its part has denied
the majority of allegations in the lawsuit and has asked the judge to throw
out the case. The attorney general's office has hired private attorneys to
help defend the state in the case. MTC manages the facility in Meridian, and
Centurion of Mississippi, partnership between MHM Services and Centene,
provides medical care for prisoners there (as well as the rest of the state's
prison system) with headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., the Mississippi Secretary
of State's website shows. MHM Services is not registered with the secretary
of state, but St. Louis-based Centene Management Company registered in
Mississippi as an LLC in 2011. MTC took over the facility in July 2012, after
attorneys began their investigation. The corporation maintains that
conditions at EMCF have improved. In an emailed statement, which avoids
specifics of the case, MTC emphasized its adequate staffing levels, new
security measures (like a body scanner) and a GED program. "The facility
is safe, secure, clean, and well run. From the warden on down, our staff are
trained to treat the men in our care with dignity and respect. Our mission is
to help these men make choices in prison and after they're released that will
lead to a new and successful life in society," the statement said. "The
facility is accredited by the American Correctional Association and the
Correctional Education Association. It's also 100% compliant with the federal
Prison Rape Elimination Act, which was created to further protect the rights
of inmates," the statement continued. Centurion is the third
medical-provider contractor at the facility since the litigation began. MDOC
is also on its third commissioner since the litigation began; the initial
complaint names former Commissioner Chris Epps, who is serving time in MDOC now
after he was convicted of a bribery scheme. Erin Monju,
an attorney at Covington & Burling representing the plaintiffs, said the
facility still does not have a staff psychiatrist. "It is also the
Mississippi Department of Correction's obligation to ensure that their
contractors abide by the contract paid for with Mississippi tax dollars, but
across these three contractors, (the department) has failed to ensure
prisoners are receiving adequate health care, and they have failed to hold
these contractors to their obligation," Monju
told reporters last week. Taxpayers foot the bill for private prisons, as
well as for the contractors operating within them. In the 1990s, lawmakers
took out bonds to pay for private prisons, and that debt service will not be
paid off until fiscal-year 2028. The state is currently paying more than $6
million in debt service this year for EMCF. Attorneys said the contract with
Centurion is valued at more than $50 million in taxpayer money. Attorneys
representing the inmates expect the trial, which Judge Barbour will decide
and not a jury, to go on for a few weeks. They plan to call experts, inmates
and possibly former prison staff members as witnesses during the trial. Just
how much conditions have improved—or not—will likely become clear during the
trial as well as how much MDOC has worked to hold private contractors
accountable for changing the environment, health and practices in the
facility.
Mar 4, 2018 clarionledger.com
Hunger strike in East Mississippi prison before trial
Days from a trial centered on problems at the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility, some inmates went on a short hunger strike. Issa
Arnita, a spokesman for Management & Training Corp., which runs the
private prison in Meridian along with the Marshall County Correctional
Facility and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, confirmed the hunger
strike by some inmates on Thursday. He explained that MTC is combatting
contraband in all three prisons. Part of that effort has included a
Correctional Emergency Response Team conducting daily, unannounced contraband
searches of all of its housing units. After a search of one of the East
Mississippi housing units on Wednesday, CERT discovered several items of
contraband, the bulk being cellphones and cellphone chargers, he said. Under
state Department of Corrections rules, housing units are placed under
lockdown after the discovery of contraband. Several inmates went on a hunger
strike to reportedly protest that shakedown. Arnita said inmates in the
housing unit on lockdown ate breakfast but refused to eat lunch on Thursday.
He said inmates ate dinner on Thursday night and breakfast on Friday morning
without incident. A trial is slated to begin Monday in U.S. District Court in
a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates at the East Mississippi prison,
alleging violence, dysfunctional mental health care system, filthy cells and
other woes.
Nov 30, 2017 clarionledger.com
Another company settles in Epps' bribery case
Former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps was sentenced to
235 months in prison and fined $100,000 for a bribery scandal. Harold Gater, A third company has settled a lawsuit filed by
Attorney General Jim Hood over the bribery scandal of former Corrections
Commissioner Chris Epps. Hood announced Wednesday that Sentinel Offender
Services LLC, which provides inmate electronic monitoring, has settled the
case for $1.3 million. Hood said his office has now collected $5.8 million
for taxpayers involving one of the largest corruption case
in the state's history. “As a company that continues to contract with the
state, Sentinel Offender Services agreed to cooperate and settle the case for
$1.3 million on a $2 million contract,” Hood said in a statement. “We
successfully disgorged them of their ill-gotten profit and then some.” This
settlement ends the third of 11 civil actions the attorney general filed on
Feb. 8 accusing 10 individuals and 12 out-of-state corporations of using
alleged “consultants” as conduits to pay bribes and kickbacks to
then-Commissioner Epps for the awarding and retention of
contracts — all while defrauding the
state through a pattern of misrepresentation, fraud, concealment, money
laundering, and other wrongful conduct arising from the Epps bribery scandal.
Some of those named in the lawsuits weren't charged in the Epps case. Some
plan to contest lawsuits. One that is is The GEO
Group Inc. “Our company had a long-standing partnership with the state of
Mississippi from 1994 to 2012," Pablo Paez,
vice president of corporate relations for The Geo Group, said in a statement.
"During our entire tenure as a service provider to the State, our
company was never aware of or involved in any improprieties within the
Mississippi Department of Corrections. We believe the allegations against GEO
have no merit, and we intend to continue to vigorously defend our company
with respect to this baseless action.” Epps was sentenced in May to almost 20
years in prison and fined him $100,000 for running one of the largest and
longest criminal conspiracies in the state's history. Epps, 56, who served 12
years as corrections commissioner, was accused of taking at least $1.4
million in bribes and kickbacks to steer more than $800 million worth of
state prison contracts. He pleaded guilty in February 2015 to bribery and
filing a false income tax return. "This is not a simple crime,"
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate said in sentencing Epps. "This is the
largest graft operation in the state of Mississippi, definitely the largest I
have seen. Mr. Epps betrayed the state of Mississippi." In addition to
Epps, others charged were former legislator Cecil McCrory; former state Sen. Irb Benjamin of Madison; Teresa Malone, the wife of
former lawmaker and former House Corrections Chairman Bennett Malone; Texas
businessman Mark Longoria; Dr. Carl Reddix;
business and government consultant Robert Simmons; former MDOC insurance
broker Guy E. "Butch" Evans; and prison consultant Sam Waggoner.
Evans is the only one who hasn't pleaded guilty.
Sep 24, 2017 clarionledger.com
Cecil McCrory still a free man five months after he was supposed to report
to prison
More than five months after he was scheduled to report to federal prison,
Cecil McCrory, a central figure in bribery case of ex-Mississippi Department
of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps, is still a free man. McCrory, 66, a
former legislator, was accused of bribing Epps and raking in cash from
sweetheart contracts and consulting fees. McCrory was sentenced in February
by U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate to 8½ years in prison for money
laundering, and ordered to pay a $150,000 fine within 180 days. Wingate
initially set April 4 as the date for McCrory to report to prison, but his
reporting to prison was delayed after his attorney filed a motion to
reconsider the $150,000 fine, saying his client couldn't afford it after
liquidating assets to pay the more than $1 million in forfeiture amount. His
$150,000 fine was reduced to $20,000. He was also subpoenaed by Attorney
General Jim Hood to give deposition in Hood's civil cases against companies
and officials who had contracts with MDOC during Epps'
tenure, including The GEO Group. McCrory has given his deposition, and
federal officials say they expect a final judgment to be entered soon that
will set a new date for McCrory to report to prison. In February, Hood announced his
office has filed 11 civil RICO lawsuits against all corporate and individual
conspirators connected to the prison bribery scandal involving Epps. However,
some of those named in Hood's cases weren't charged in the Epps' case. GEO and some other companies are fighting
Hood's lawsuit. GEO company officials said in a statement the company didn't
do anything wrong. GEO attorney Neville Boschert is
arguing the lawsuit should be dismissed. "The entire complaint should be
dismissed to the extent it is predicated on an attempt to hold the GEO
defendants liable for the bad acts of defendant Cecil McCrory because the
complaint lacks any factual allegations in support of an agency theory of
liability," Boschert said. Wackenhut, which
later became The GEO Group, began operating in Mississippi in 1996, more than
a decade before the alleged Epps' conspiracy began.
Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd is scheduled to hear motions Oct. 19
to dismiss Hood's lawsuits against GEO and some of the other companies. In
November 2014, Epps and McCrory were formally charged in a 49-count federal
indictment in one of the largest corruption cases in Mississippi history.
Epps pleaded guilty to two counts of the indictment and was sentenced to 19 years
in prison. In addition to Epps and McCrory, others charged are former state
Sen. Irb Benjamin of Madison; Teresa Malone, the
wife of former lawmaker and former House Corrections Committee Chairman
Bennett Malone; Texas businessman Mark Longoria; Dr. Carl Reddix;
business and government consultant Robert Simmons; former MDOC insurance
broker Guy E. "Butch" Evans; and prison consultant Sam Waggoner.
All have pleaded guilty except Evans and Malone. However, Malone is expected
to enter a guilty plea. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate said during
McCrory's sentencing that the 8½ years could be reduced if it were determined
his sentence was out of line with what others received in the corruption
case.
Jul 18, 2017 msnewsnow.com
Malone to change plea to guilty in Epps Corrections Corruption case
Teresa Malone, a defendant in the corrections corruptions scandal, is
changing her plea to guilty. Malone is charged with paying bribes and
kickbacks to former MDOC director, Christopher Epps, in exchange for his influence
securing MDOC contracts for AdminPros, LLC, a
medical vendor monitoring and Medicaid eligibility services company. Malone
is accused of paying Epps, beginning in 2010 through 2014, cash amounts from
1-thousand to 17-hundred-50-dollars. She was a paid consultant for AdminPros. Malone
is the wife of former state legislator Bennett Malone, who also chaired the
state corrections commission.
May 25, 2017 usnews.com
Former Mississippi Prison Chief Sentenced to Nearly 20 Years
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Christopher Epps once called himself the
"tallest hog at the trough," but he was cut down to size Wednesday
when a judge sentenced Mississippi's former corrections commissioner to
nearly 20 years in prison for crimes connected to more than $1.4 million in
bribes. U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate handed down the sentence,
rejecting prosecutors' recommendation for a more lenient 13 years. Wingate
said Epps' decision to break into his former house
to retrieve outdoor lights in October — after Epps had pleaded guilty — made
him question whether the 56-year-old truly took responsibility for his
crimes. He also ordered Epps to pay a $100,000 fine. Epps has already
forfeited more than $1.7 million in assets. "This is the largest graft
operation that certainly I have seen, and I have seen a lot," said
Wingate, a federal judge since 1985. "He has bruised tremendously the
image of the state of Mississippi." Epps pleaded guilty in 2015 to
charges of money laundering and filing false tax returns related to bribes he
extracted from contractors doing business with the prison system. The charges
carried a maximum sentence of 23 years. Epps has been jailed since Wingate
revoked his bail in November following the house break-in, and will get
credit for time served toward his sentence of 19 years and 7 months. In
shackles and a jail jumpsuit Wednesday, Epps told Wingate that he had been
motivated by "greed." "I've made some stupid mistakes I will
regret for the rest of my life," Epps said, reading from a document. The
bribes allowed Epps, Mississippi's longest-serving corrections commissioner,
to pay off the mortgage on his $500,000 house in a gated suburban
subdivision, buy a beachfront condo on the Gulf Coast, acquire two luxury
cars and accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments. Evidence
showed Epps was taking monthly cash payments, then trying to deposit cash in
banks in amounts small enough to escape scrutiny. He even got Brandon
businessman Cecil McCrory to take a bag with $40,000 in dirty money, label it
as proceeds from a tractor sale and wire it to Epps'
investment account. But unbeknownst to Epps, Leake
County Sheriff Greg Waggoner had reported concerns about the prison system to
investigators in 2009. By June 2014, when FBI agents asked Epps to come to
their Jackson office on the pretext that someone had threatened his life,
they had been collecting evidence on Epps for years, including tapping his
phone. Once confronted, Epps agreed to help prosecutors, secretly recording
conversations and enticing contractors to pay higher bribes. Others who have
pleaded guilty include McCrory, inmate health provider Dr. Carl Reddix of Jackson, Harrison County political consultant
Robert Simmons, former state Sen. Irb Benjamin,
prison phone consultant Sam Waggoner, Texas drug-testing supplier Mark
Longoria and Alabama health care consultant Michael Goddard. Former Harrison
County Supervisor William Martin killed himself in 2015, hours before he was
due in federal court on bribery charges. FBI Agent Ty Breedlove told Wingate
on Wednesday that Epps was the best source he has had in 15 years as an
agent. Two others still face charges of bribing Epps: insurance broker Guy E.
"Butch" Evans and Teresa Malone, the wife of a former state
representative. Discussions Wednesday in court indicated investigations
remain active against six or seven other people in Mississippi and Louisiana,
including one who has already been secretly indicted. Defense attorney John
Colette denied that Epps had extorted bribes from contractors, despite testimony
from other defendants. Wingate questioned how much leniency he should show
Epps for turning in others. "You're asking he get credit for revealing
the involvement of conspirators who he may have brought into the
conspiracy," the judge said. Epps told Wingate the "tallest hog at
the trough" remark, caught on tape, was a joke, and he is actually a
humble person. Wingate told Colette he was unmoved. "In this instance,
we have an elaborate scheme which allowed your client to lead an extravagant
lifestyle while his criminal conduct made a mockery of his position as head
of the Department of Corrections," Wingate said.
May 6, 2017
ccenterdispatch.com
Physician pleads guilty to bribing Mississippi prison chief
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A physician with contracts to treat inmates pleaded
guilty Wednesday to bribing Mississippi's former corrections commissioner,
becoming the seventh person to plead guilty in the bribery scheme. Dr. Carl Reddix pleaded guilty to one count of bribery before U.S.
District Judge Daniel Jordan, who set an Aug. 1 sentencing date. The
58-year-old Reddix remains free on $10,000 bail. He
faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Prosecutors say they
also want him to forfeit assets. A July indictment accused Reddix of six counts of bribery and one count of
conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. Prosecutors said starting in
2012, Reddix paid then-Commissioner Christopher
Epps $2,000 a month for each state prison contract held by his company,
Health Assurance. That amount was initially $6,000 a month, rising to $8,000
a month in 2013, and peaking with a final $9,500 payment in October 2014.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca, telling
Jordan what prosecutors could prove, said FBI agents watched or recorded at
least six monthly meetings where Reddix passed cash
to Epps. It's unclear how much Reddix paid Epps,
but it was more than $170,000. Reddix's lawyers had
suggested in court papers that Health Assurance won contracts honestly,
without Epps' corrupt aid, but later fell prey to
the commissioner's avarice. But LaMarca said
Wednesday that wiretapped conversations from 2014 recorded Epps telling Reddix he was steering contracts to Health Assurance. LaMarca said Epps called Reddix
before a bid was due and encouraged him to pad the fee with money for Epps' bribe, and quoted Reddix
as responding: "We always got you. You know that part ain't never an
issue." The prosecutor said Epps called back after bids were collected
to tell Reddix that Health Assurance was the low
bidder, but that Epps wouldn't have approved any company that outbid Reddix. LaMarca said Reddix admitted what he had done when FBI agents
confronted him in October 2014. Reddix himself said
little during the hearing. "You saw him accept responsibility for his
conduct and we're preparing for sentencing," defense lawyer Lisa Ross
said afterward. There have also been questions about Health Assurance
payments to counties in Mississippi and Alabama. Alabama health care
consultant Michael Goddard pleaded guilty in April to making a false
statement to the FBI, lying about money he had gotten from Health Assurance.
Goddard falsely told agents in August that the money wasn't related to a
contract to provide health care for inmates in Jefferson County, Alabama,
which includes Birmingham. Goddard is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 2. He
faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Robert Simmons was
sentenced to more than seven months in prison after pleading guilty to
passing bribes from Health Assurance to a Mississippi Gulf Coast official in
exchange for a jail medical contract. Former Harrison County Supervisor
William Martin killed himself in 2015, hours before he was due in federal
court on bribery charges. Epps is scheduled to be sentenced May 24. He faces
up to 23 years on charges of money laundering and filing false tax returns
related to $1.47 million in bribes prosecutors say he took. He's forfeiting
$1.7 million in assets.
Apr 1, 2017 jacksonfreepress.com
Operation Zero Tolerance' Nets Staggering Amount of Contraband in Prison
JACKSON — Pelicia Hall, the recently confirmed
commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, is cracking down
on contraband in public and private prisons in the state. In March she
started "Operation Zero Tolerance," conducting surprise searches of
all facilities for illegal weapons, drugs, electronics, or clothing and food
items. At the start of March, MDOC officials joined with officers from the
Mississippi Department of Public Safety to search Wilkinson County
Correctional Facility, one of the state's three private prisons, for
contraband. The results were staggering. Photos from the department show
tables full of shanks and weapons, drugs and cell phones. Hall called the
excessive contraband "unacceptable" in a press release.
"Neither staff nor inmates should have to fear being assaulted or
exploited. Whether you are staff or inmate, if you are caught with
contraband, you will be dealt with accordingly," she said in a March 2
statement. The shakedowns continued in the state's other private prisons,
East Mississippi Correctional Facility and Marshall County Correctional
Facility, on March 3 and 9 respectively. These shakedowns resulted in less
contraband than what MDOC found at Wilkerson, the department said. The
state's three private prisons hold 3,053 of the state's 19,000 prisoners, but
bond payments on those facilities, as well as now-closed Walnut Grove
Correctional Facility, will cost the state more than $328 million until 2028.
Hall plans to conduct contraband crackdowns in all state prisons as a part of
"Operation Zero Tolerance." MDOC suspends privileges in facilities
with excessive contraband. At Wilkinson County Correctional Facility and at
East Mississippi Correctional Facility, inmates lost visitation, outside
recreation and commissary privileges after the shakedowns. Inmates normally
buy hygiene, food and personal items at prison canteens. Certain parts of
East Mississippi facilities are still under these restrictions. Wilkerson is
restoring regular visitation hours this weekend. State law forbids public and
private prison employees and inmates to have, furnish or assist prisoners in
getting contraband items from weapons, to cell phones to chargers. Those
caught with contraband can face felonies punishable by no less than three
years in the state penitentiary, fined $25,000 or both, state law says. On
March 29, MDOC officers conducted their sixth search at Carroll-Montgomery
County Regional Correctional Facility. In a statement about that shakedown,
Hall recognized that inmates are not responsible for all contraband charges.
"We recognize that inmates alone are not responsible for the illegal
items, that staff, visitors, and vendors bring in contraband," Hall said
in the March 29 press release. "During my confirmation hearing, for
example, I told how one smuggled cell phone could go for $3,000. But my
administration is focused on not only pointing out our challenges but also
finding ways to address them." More than 19,000 inmates are in MDOC's
custody. That number has edged up since the Legislature passed House Bill 585
in 2014 to stem the rising number of those in the state's custody and
implement good criminal-justice practices including changes to state laws and
focusing re-entry programming. MDOC recently announced a new re-entry
program, Defy Ventures, last week. The Legislature , passed several of the
state's Re-entry Council's recommendations in House Bill 1033, which says
that not paying a fine should not result in automatic incarceration, changes
some parole eligibility requirements, mandates the Legislature PEER committee
to study sentencing disparities across the state and revises certain
sentencing standards.
Mar
5, 2017 correctionsone.com
Ex-lawmaker in Miss. sentenced to 6 years for prison bribes
JACKSON, Miss. — Former Mississippi legislator Irb
Benjamin was sentenced Friday to nearly six years in prison for bribes he
paid to former state Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps, but his
sentence could be reduced if information he provided to investigators results
in prosecutions of others in the bribery scandal. Assistant U.S. Attorney
Darren LaMarca told U.S. District Judge Henry T.
Wingate that "it's just a matter of time" until people that
Benjamin informed on are indicted in federal court Gulfport. Prosecutors have
long promised more indictments in the bribery scheme that centered on Epps,
but there's been little public movement lately in Mississippi. Six people
have pleaded guilty, and four others have been charged, including one in
Alabama. Wingate sentenced Benjamin to 70 months in prison. He also ordered
the former state representative and senator to pay a $100,000 fine and
forfeit $260,782 within 90 days. "I'm so sorry that I destroyed all the
history and character that my family stood for," Benjamin told Wingate.
"I have no one to blame but myself." Benjamin, who represented
Alcorn County as a state representative and senator before moving to Madison,
will report to federal prison on May 16. He pleaded guilty in October to one
count of bribery, and said again Friday that Epps demanded bribes, or else
threatened to withhold some inmates from regional jails Benjamin helped
develop in Alcorn, Chickasaw and Washington counties. Such a move could have
made the jails money-losers. "I should have just walked away,"
Benjamin said. "I was pressured." Benjamin has estimated he paid
Epps between $180,000 and $225,000 in cash bribes to secure Epps' support for the regional jails, as well as for drug
and alcohol rehabilitation programs his company ran at inmate work centers in
Alcorn and Simpson counties. Benjamin's plea actually covers bribes paid for
those rehab programs. Benjamin said Friday that Epps also threatened to
withhold inmates from Chickasaw County unless officials signed a prison phone
contract with a business operated by Sam Waggoner of Carthage. Waggoner
pleaded guilty in 2015 to bribing Epps and in January was ordered to serve
five years in prison, pay a $100,000 fine and forfeit $200,000. Epps is
scheduled to be sentenced May 24. He faces up to 23 years in prison. Lawyer
Joe Hollomon argued leniency was justified
considering Benjamin's age, health problems, and legislative achievements.
More than 40 people sent letters asking Wingate to show mercy. "He has
led a life of accomplishment and a life he can be proud of up until the time
he met Chris Epps and this situation developed," Hollomon
said. Wingate rejected that argument, but sentenced Benjamin to the minimum
prison term called for by sentencing guidelines. The judge said he's willing
to later consider a sentence reduction if Benjamin helps in future
prosecutions. "I'll be waiting to see what the government has to say in
regards to your cooperation in these other matters," he said
Feb 14, 2017 meridianstar.com
Private prison firms deny
wrongdoing in Epps kickback scheme
Several of the companies being
sued by Mississippi’s top prosecutor deny allegations they participated in a
bribery scheme that brought down the state’s corrections commissioner. Last
week, Attorney General Jim Hood said his office had filed lawsuits against 25
companies and individuals he says illegally profited from a plot former
corrections Commissioner Chris Epps orchestrated while leading the agency. In
all, Hood has filed 11 civil RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
Act) lawsuits against entities that he says “defrauded” Mississippians
“through a pattern of bribery, kickbacks, misrepresentations, fraud,
concealment, money laundering and other wrongful conduct.” Two of the
companies are among the largest private-prison operators in the nation,
including one that continues to do business in Mississippi. Hood’s complaint
against Utah-based Management and Training Co. (MTC), which operates three
facilities on behalf of the state of Mississippi — in Lauderdale, Wilkinson
and Marshall counties — charges that the company had a “backroom”
relationship with Epps and Cecil McCrory, the Rankin County businessman and
former state official recently sentenced for his role as Epps’
co-conspirator. MTC operates East Mississippi Correctional Facility in
Lauderdale County. Hood said MTC had every reason to believe that the
consulting fees the company paid to McCrory were being used to pay bribes and
kickbacks to Epps on contracts worth $114 million. In a statement, MTC
spokesman Issa Arnita said the company is committed to integrity and honesty
in all its dealings. “MTC was unaware of any wrongdoing or illegal activity
during the time we were awarded contracts to operate correctional facilities
for the Department of Corrections,” Arnita said. “We have, and will continue
to operate the three correctional facilities in a safe and secure manner for
the taxpayers of Mississippi. We are confident that after a thorough review
of the facts, it will become clear MTC has had no involvement in or knowledge
of any wrongdoing,” Arnita said. Hood makes similar allegations against Boca
Raton, Fla., based-GEO Group and a company it acquired that is now defunct,
Cornell Companies. GEO Group, the nation’s second largest private-corrections
firm, pulled out of Mississippi 2013. Hood asserts that the GEO Group should
have known the consulting fees it paid to McCrory were used to pay kickbacks
to Epps for $256 million in contracts with the state. Pablo E. Paez, a vice president with the GEO Group, said the company
was a partner with the state from 1994 to 2012. “During our entire tenure as
a service provider to the state, our company was never aware of any
improprieties within the Mississippi Department of Corrections. In fact,
since the federal criminal allegations against Epps and McCrory first
surfaced, our company has openly and proactively cooperated with federal
authorities.” “We believe the allegations against GEO have no merit, and we
intend to vigorously defend our company with respect to this action, which
the State has also brought against a broad range of companies and
individuals,” Paez said in an emailed statement to
Mississippi Today. The federal government indicted Epps in 2014. Six people,
including Epps and McCrory, have pleaded guilty for various roles in
procuring contracts whose value totaled between $800 million and over $1
billion. Epps is awaiting sentencing.
Hood wants those
involved to pay back the value of the contracts plus attorneys and other fees
because, he contends, the companies would not have been awarded state
business if not for participating in the bribery scheme. Several other
companies Mississippi Today contacted said they would cooperate with the
investigation but declined to comment further, citing the pending litigation.
Feb 9, 2017 clarionledger.com
Mississippi AG files lawsuits in Epps bribery case
Attorney General Jim Hood announced Wednesday his office has filed 11
civil RICO lawsuits against all corporate and individual conspirators
connected to the prison bribery scandal involving former Mississippi
Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps. Hood is seeking damages
and punitive damages against the following individuals and corporations: Epps; Cecil McCrory; Robert Simmons; Irb Benjamin; Sam Waggoner; Mark Longoria; Teresa Malone;
Carl Reddix; Michael Reddix;
Andrew Jenkins; Management & Training Corporation; The GEO Group, Inc.;
Cornell Companies, Inc.; Wexford Health Sources, Inc.; The Bantry Group
Corporation; AdminPros, L.L.C.; CGL Facility
Management, LLC; Mississippi Correctional Management, Inc.; Branan Medical Corporation; Drug Testing Corporation;
Global Tel*Link Corporation; Health Assurance, LLC; Keefe Commissary Network,
LLC; Sentinel Offender Services, L.L.C. and AJA Management & Technical
Services, Inc. “The state of Mississippi has been defrauded through a pattern
of bribery, kickbacks, misrepresentations, fraud, concealment, money
laundering and other wrongful conduct,” Hood said. “These individuals and
corporations that benefited by stealing from taxpayers must not only pay the
state's losses, but state law requires that they must also forfeit and return
the entire amount of the contracts paid by the state. We are also seeking
punitive damages to punish these conspirators and to deter those who might
consider giving or receiving kickbacks in the future." However, some of
those named in Hood's case haven't been charged in the Epps'
case. Jenkins and Michael Reddix haven't been
charged in the case. In addition to Epps and McCrory, others charged are
former state Sen. Irb Benjamin of Madison; Teresa
Malone, the wife of former lawmaker and former House Corrections Chairman
Bennett Malone; Texas businessman Mark Longoria; Dr. Carl Reddix;
business and government consultant Robert Simmons; former MDOC insurance
broker Guy E. "Butch" Evans; and prison consultant Sam Waggoner.
McCrory and Waggoner are the only two who have been sentenced. McCrory
received an 8.5 year sentence. Waggoner was sentenced to five years.
According to Hood's lawsuits, multiple corporations, including some of the
most prominent private prison contractors, paid millions of dollars in
so-called “consulting fees” to individuals who then used those fees to pay
bribes and kickbacks to Epps. Based on those bribes and kickbacks, Epps awarded,
directed or extended approximately $800 million in public contracts to those
private prison contractors. Hood alleges that the defendants violated
Mississippi’s public ethics, racketeering and antitrust laws, along with
several other claims. The Attorney General is seeking compensatory and
punitive damages, as well as forfeiture of all funds received by the
individuals and corporations that were involved in these conspiracies. Hood
said only three of the companies are from Mississippi. “Out-of-state corporations
were eager to take advantage of Mississippi taxpayers and secure MDOC
contracts through bribery and fraud. It is critical for the state to use the
remedies at its disposal to recover damages and get back the money exchanged
in these schemes,” Hood
said. “I have a duty to protect the integrity of the public contracting
process, as well as to vindicate the rights of the state when it is a victim
of public corruption and other wrongful conduct.” In the federal case, Epps
is accused of running one of the largest and longest criminal conspiracies in
state government history, taking at least $1.4 million in bribes and
kickbacks over eight years to steer more than $800 million worth of state
prison contracts. Epps pleaded guilty in February 2015 to bribery and filing
a false income tax return. He faces a maximum 23 years in prison. He had
initially faced numerous other charges. Epps is scheduled to be sentenced in
May. Hood said through private attorneys his office will seek to recoup as
much money as possible from what he called tainted contracts. "There
needs to be punishment for companies that do this," Hood said. "I
hope the court will grant our costs." Hood said he expects it to be a
long process to try to recoup money from the individuals and companies.
Feb 4, 2017 clarionledger.com
Cecil McCrory sentenced to 8.5 years
Cecil McCrory, the central figure in the corruption case of former
Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps, was sentenced
to 8.5 years in prison Friday, but his sentence could be reduced after all
defendants in the Epps case are sentenced, a federal judge ruled. McCrory,66,
a former legislator, was accused of bribing Epps and raking in cash from
sweetheart contracts and consulting fees. In November 2014, Epps and McCrory
were formally charged in a 49-count federal indictment in one of the largest
corruption cases in Mississippi history. Epps is accused of taking at least
$1.4 million in bribes and kickbacks over eight years to steer more than $800
million worth of state prison contracts, mostly to companies owned or
associated with McCrory. McCrory's attorney Carlos Tanner said his client received about $3
million in commissions and other revenue. The Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca argued Thursday that McCrory breached a plea
agreement he had with the government by seeking to withdraw his guilty plea.
"He took a diametrical position to his guilty plea," LaMarca said. But McCrory's attorney, Carlos Tanner, said
his client entered a guilty plea soon after he was charged in the case and
provided substantial help to the government in its investigation, including
wearing a wiretap. "This man didn't breach anything; they're trying not
to give this man anything for what he did," Tanner told Wingate. LaMarca acknowledged McCrory was instrumental in the case
and cooperated with authorities. LaMarca said he
isn't asking Wingate to rescind the plea agreement, but he doesn't believe
McCrory should get a break for acceptance of responsibility because of his
effort to withdraw his guilty plea. Tanner said McCrory will, under oath,
accept responsibility before the court today. Tanner, who wasn't McCrory's
attorney when the guilty plea was made, said McCrory's then-lawyer had no
experience in handling white-collar cases in federal court. He said McCrory
pleaded guilty to a count that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in
prison. He said the idea of withdrawing the guilty plea was also based on the
government basing sentencing guideline ranges on the gross contracts amount
with MDOC of $350 million to $800 million. On Thursday, LaMarca
set the loss amount at $4.6 million, based upon commissions and other money
McCrory actually received. Both Epps and McCrory pleaded guilty in February
2015. McCrory pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of Epps. The bribery
count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Epps, who pleaded
guilty to money laundering and filing false tax returns, is set for
sentencing in May. He faces a maximum 23 years in prison. Epps said he first
met McCrory in 1997 when McCrory was serving in the Mississippi Legislature,
and the bribes began soon thereafter, said Epps, who was working in the
Mississippi Department of Corrections but was not yet commissioner. In 2008,
after McCrory sold GT Enterprises and Epps gave McCrory a favorable
recommendation, McCrory sent $200,000 in payments to pay off the mortgage
that Epps had on his then-3,800-square-foot home in Flowood with a $360,000
price tag. McCrory has said Epps approached him about paying off the home.
Prosecutors say Epps used the equity to take out a loan for a condominium in
Biloxi. After McCrory paid off that condo, Epps used that equity to get a
bigger condominium in Pass Christian. When the FBI arrested Epps, agents
found $69,600 in cash in his safe. There was also about $1 million in his
investment-retirement account, prosecutors said. Epps forfeited about $2
million, which included the money above, his Flowood home, his Pass Christian
condo and two Mercedes-Benz cars.
JANUARY 19, 2017 7:07 PM
Contractor gets 5 years in Mississippi prison bribery scheme
A businessman who had contracts with the Mississippi prison system was
sentenced Thursday to five years in prison in a bribery scheme involving the
state's former corrections commissioner. The Clarion-Ledger reports (http://on.thec-l.com/2k5Yf2X
) U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate handed down the sentence to Sam
Waggoner, 62, of Carthage, which also included two years of supervised
release. Waggoner admitted to giving then-Commissioner Christopher Epps a
portion of the money he earned as a prison telephone contractor. Waggoner
told federal agents that before their investigation started, he wrote to Epps
saying he wanted to end the payments. "I don't want the FBI knocking on
my door in the middle of the night," Waggoner told Wingate he wrote in the
letter. Epps ripped the letter into "teeny, tiny pieces," flushed
it down a toilet and told him their arrangement would continue, Waggoner
said. "He was basically my boss," Waggoner said. "He could
hurt my business." Wingate saw Waggoner's attempt to end his involvement
in the scheme as the result of a mix between remorse and fear of being
investigated. The five-year sentence, recommended by prosecutors, was the
compromise. The FBI charged Waggoner with one count of bribery related to his
payments of bribes and kickbacks to Epps from sometime in 2012 until at least
Aug. 26, 2014. Waggoner worked as a consultant for Global Tel-Link, which
provided telephone services at state prison facilities. Waggoner received 5
percent of the revenue as a consultant. He acknowledged he "corruptly
gave" kickbacks twice in 2014 with the intent to influence Epps.
Waggoner entered a guilty plea in August 2015 and agreed to forfeit $200,000
in cash. By statute, the charges carried a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Epps awaits sentencing after pleading guilty in February 2015 to money
laundering and filing false tax returns in a wide-ranging bribery scheme.
Epps is set to appear in May. In December, Wingate rejected Epps' plea to release him from jail until then. The judge
revoked Epps' bail on Nov. 4 after the former
corrections commissioner was charged with stealing outdoor lights and a
control box from the house he forfeited to the federal government. He faces
up to 23 years in prison and has forfeited $1.7 million in assets. Others
embroiled in Epps' scheme include businessman Cecil
McCrory; former state Sen. Irb Benjamin of Madison;
Teresa Malone, the wife of a former state representative; Texas businessman
Mark Longoria; Dr. Carl Reddix; business and
government consultant Robert Simmons; and former MDOC insurance broker Guy E.
Butch Evans.
Sep 25, 2016 jacksonfreepress.com
Analysis: As Prison Closes, State Still Reckons with Debt
#JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — If you've got to keep paying for something, you
might as well use it. That, more than anything, might be the logic behind the
announcement from Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Marshall Fisher last
week that the state prison system intends to seek new uses for the recently
closed Walnut Grove Correctional Facility. Fisher said last week saying the
department is considering using the 1,500-bed facility as an alternative to
prison, as a facility to house prisoners after parole violations, or to help
prisoners prepare to re-enter society. Mississippi was already awash in
prison beds, and the surplus got larger after lawmakers in 2014 cut prison
sentences to reduce the number of state inmates. Now, there are too many
lockups and not enough inmates to fill them all. Bringing new life to the Leake County prison would give corrections officials
something to show each year when they seek money to pay the debt associated
with Walnut Grove. Grace Simmons Fisher, a department spokeswoman who is not
related Marshall Fisher, said the department owes almost $194 million overall
on Walnut Grove and three other private prisons — East Mississippi
Correctional Facility near Meridian, Marshall County Correctional Facility
and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility. She couldn't break down exactly
how much the state owes for each. But it's clear from bond documents the debt
is largest at Walnut Grove — as much as $91 million. That's in part because
the prison is the newest, having opened in 2001. Walnut Grove and East
Mississippi were also more expensive because each has 1,500 beds, while the
two older prisons have 1,000 apiece. The state borrowed $93.6 million for
Walnut Grove in 2010, and bond documents showed no payments were due until
Aug. 1 of this year. The state refinanced $61.2 million this year, and paid
off at least $2.6 million of the principal on Aug. 1. Overall, the state is
scheduled to be paying $21.8 million a year on the prisons' debt until 2027.
That comes out of money that lawmakers appropriate to the Corrections
Department for private prisons — $74.6 million this year. The debt grew out
of the five private prisons that lawmakers authorized between 1994 and 1998,
when inmate populations were growing quickly. For at least three, separate
local authorities were created to borrow money to build the prison, leasing
it to the state. Using that structure meant the state didn't have to borrow
money under its own name. Thus, lawmakers didn't have to approve the spending
during their yearly haggle over how much money will be bonded. It also meant
the borrowing didn't crowd out more popular projects such as university
buildings or museums. Instead, local agencies borrowed through the
Mississippi Development Bank, an agency that allows others to sell bonds at
lower interest rates because they can use the state's credit rating. The
Walnut Grove bonds were refinanced this summer, only weeks after Marshall
Fisher announced the prison's shutdown. The bond statement issued to
investors reassured them that the Department of Corrections would keep
paying. "Despite the closure of the Walnut Grove facility, the
department is obligated under the loan agreement, the note and the Walnut
Grove lease to make payments sufficient to pay debt service on the Walnut
Grove bonds," it said. The document cites the example of Leflore
County's Delta Correctional Facility. When the state closed the facility in
2002, it kept repaying money that Leflore County had borrowed on the state's
behalf for five more years, until 2007. While Leflore County operates part of
that prison today as a county jail, the rest remains closed. At least it's
paid for.
Sep 17, 2016 sunherald.com
Prison sentence was the real price of consultant’s bribery conviction
Coast consultant Robert Simmons provided the government “substantial
assistance at great risk” in the federal bribery investigation that netted
former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps
and others, Simmons attorney K.C. Hightower said Thursday before his client
was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison. Before the hearing,
the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed under seal a record that detailed Simmons’
cooperation, a cryptic court discussion revealed. Simmons pleaded guilty in
February to a bribery charge. U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden
gave Simmons the lowest sentence possible under federal guidelines, saying he
considered Simmons’ cooperation and crime-free past. Simmons could have
received up to nine years in prison. Simmons also will pay a $10,000 fine and
serve three years of supervised release once is prison time is finished. The government
determined several contractors earned a total of $6.7 million in profits from
contracts Simmons helped them secure for state prison construction and
Harrison County jail health services. In exchange for those contracts,
Simmons funneled thousands in kickbacks to Epps and Harrison County
Supervisor William Martin. “These types of offenses are very serious,” Ozerden told Simmons. “They involve conduct that calls
into question the integrity of our public institutions. The court must take
that into consideration.” Simmons, 61, said he was just a country boy from
Amite County who had been working as a professional in South Mississippi for
35 years. He owns The Simmons Network consulting firm and had previously
served as community development director for the city of Biloxi. “The
totality of what I have been engaged in over the years does not reflect what
happened in the recent past,” Simmons said. He apologized to his wife, who
did not attend the hearing, his friends and the public. Simmons bribed Epps from
2005 until August 2014, and Martin from 2005 through 2011, evidence showed.
At his earlier plea hearing, Simmons said he considered bribery “the cost of
doing business in Mississippi.” Epps has pleaded guilty in a separate case,
but has not yet been sentenced. Simmons told investigators he drove to
various Coast bank branches to deposit bribe money into Epps’
account, then sent a text message that usually said, “Count it 14 done.”
Simmons paid at the county level, too. Martin, who served for 16 years as a
Harrison County supervisor, committed suicide in February 2015 rather than
face bribery charges in the case. That same month, in a federal courtroom in
Jackson, Epps and former state lawmaker Cecil McCrory pleaded guilty to
charges stemming from the bribery investigation. Both await sentencing.
Simmons represented California-based Sentinel Offender Services LLC, which
was awarded a probation and parole services for the Mississippi Department of
Corrections in 2012. Evidence showed Sentinel paid Simmons a consulting fee
of $4,000 a month from July 2012 through August 2014. Each month, Simmons
deposited $1,400 into Epps’ bank account. The
kickback to Epps was half the consulting fee after Simmons deducted 30
percent for taxes, Golden said. Simmons received a consulting fee of $10,000
a month from AJA Management & Technical Services Inc. of Jackson for 18
months while the company managed expansions of the East Mississippi and
Walnut Grove correction facilities. Simmons admitted he paid Epps an
undisclosed portion of that fee each month. Simmons also admitted bribing the
county supervisor with $2,000 monthly payments from a consulting fee provided
by Health Assurance LLC of Jackson. The company had a contract to provide
medical services at the Harrison County jail. Health Assurance paid Simmons a
total consulting fee that climbed to $10,000 a month while he represented the
company from 2005 through 2011. Simmons signed a plea agreement and began
cooperating with investigators after he was confronted with the evidence
against him, including video and audio recordings, and wiretaps.
Aug 28, 2016 clarionledger.com
Former insurance broker for MDOC indicted in Epps case
A former insurance broker for the Mississippi Department of Corrections
has been indicted in the corruption case of former MDOC Commissioner Chris
Epps. Guy E. "Butch Evans, 61, was made broker of record for MDOC in
2012 and had exclusive access to sell insurance policies and products to MDOC
employees and received a commission from the insurance companies. The
indictment said Evans began in 2013 to make cash payments in varying amounts,
generally $1,400 to $1,700 per payment, to Epps in exchange for Epps' naming him broker of record for MDOC. From January
2013, until May 2014, Colonial Life and Accident Insurance Co. paid Evans
approximately $4,300 per month, and Evans provided Epps $1,400 to $1,700 per
month as a kickback, according to the indictment unsealed Wednesday. Evans is
the latest person to be indicted in the Epps' case.
Teresa Malone, wife of longtime former lawmaker and former House Corrections
Chairman Bennett Malone, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to federal
charges that she paid kickbacks and bribes to Epps after she was given a
$5,000-a-month consulting job by a company with multiple prisons contracts.
Texas businessman Mark Longoria waived his right to indictment and pleaded
guilty to paying Rankin County businessman and former state Rep. Cecil
McCrory $230,000, with part of the money going to bribe Epps. Longoria's
company received contracts to supply drug testing cups to the Mississippi
Department of Corrections. Epps is accused of running one of the largest and
longest criminal conspiracies in state government history, taking at least
$1.4 million in bribes and kickbacks over eight years to steer more than $800
million worth of state prison contracts. Those charged to date include
Epps, Malone, Longoria, McCrory,
another former state lawmaker, a prison phone consultant and Dr. Carl Reddix of Jackson, whose company had inmate medical care
contracts. Another business consultant has been charged in a related case on
the Coast involving bribery of Epps, and a Harrison County supervisor
committed suicide on the day he was to appear in federal court to answer
charges he took kickbacks from jail contracts. Epps was indicted in November
2014, on 49 federal charges including bribery, money laundering, conspiracy
and tax evasion. In February, he pleaded guilty to a bribery count and a tax
count. His attorney has said federal prosecutors have recommended a lenient
sentence in exchange for his cooperation. Malone faces up to 20 years in
prison and a $250,000 fine for a conspiracy charge and up to 10 years in
prison and a $250,000 fine for a bribery charge. Malone allegedly paid Epps
bribes and kickbacks for AdminPros LLC, a company
that had multiple contracts with MDOC to provide medical vendor monitoring
and Medicaid eligibility services. Malone was paid about $5,000 a month from
October 2010 to July 2014 as a consultant. The indictment alleges Malone gave
Epps kickback payments of $1,000 to $1,750 a month from 2010 through 2014.
The indictment claims she was paid at least $170,000 by the company. Bennett
Malone served nearly 36 years in the Legislature in the District 45 seat
serving parts of Leake, Neshoba, Rankin and Scott
counties. For many years Teresa Malone served as his assistant in the
Legislature, often sitting on the House floor with him and even speaking on
his behalf to other lawmakers or media. Bennett Malone was longtime chairman
of the House Corrections Committee under former Democratic Speaker Billy
McCoy and was involved in passage of laws and policies for private and public
prisons. Former Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson in 2014 told The
Clarion-Ledger that Bennett Malone had been involved in negotiations for
Walnut Grove private prison's per-inmate charges to the state. Johnson said
Bennett Malone was pushing for a higher price for Walnut Grove, which Johnson
thought was "highly improper."Bennett
Malone resigned in 2015, citing declining health, including a battle with
West Nile disease, suffering several falls and a pelvic aneurysm.
Aug 4, 2016 sunherald.com
Man pleads guilty to plot to bribe ex-corrections chief
A Texas man said Wednesday that he didn't realize part of the consulting
fees he was paying were kickbacks to Mississippi's then-corrections
commissioner until partway through a contract but continued to pay the
consultant even after he found out. Mark Longoria, the 53-year-old CEO of
Houston-based Drug Testing Corp., waived indictment and pleaded guilty to a
felony charge of conspiracy. Also Wednesday, 54-year-old Teresa Malone of
Carthage pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging her with bribing
then-Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps using the proceeds of a
separate consulting contract with an Illinois-based prison health care
monitor. Nine people have been charged in a bribery scheme centering on Epps
and the consultant, Brandon businessman Cecil McCrory. Federal prosecutors
have said charges could be coming against eight more people. Longoria
admitted to Wingate that he paid nearly $230,000 to Investigative Resources,
McCrory's company, as commission on $782,000 in drug testing cups that
Longoria's company sold to the Mississippi Department of Corrections in 2013
and 2014. Longoria said it was well-known that McCrory had a special
connection to Epps that helped deliver business to prison contractors.
"I assumed that if we were going to get the business in Mississippi, I
had to use Investigative Resources, Cecil McCrory," Longoria told
Wingate. He said he discussed bid specifications with McCrory that ruled out
cheaper Chinese-made cups, keeping those competitors from underbidding Drug
Testing Corp., in conversations investigators recorded. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Darren LaMarca said McCrory, a former
state legislator, paid $60,000 to Epps out of the $230,000 in commissions.
Longoria said that during a phone conversation with McCrory near the end of
the yearlong contract with Mississippi, McCrory referred to commissions for
himself and Epps. "That's when I put two and two together,"
Longoria said, adding that he "regrettably" didn't object to the
kickback. Wingate said he plans to sentence Longoria on Oct. 13 and allowed
him to return to Texas on $10,000 unsecured bail. Longoria faces up to five
years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors also want him to forfeit
$131,000. An indictment alleges Epps steered a $5,000-a-month consulting
contract with Illinois-based AdminPros to Malone
and that she paid Epps $1,000 to $1,750 "regularly" over almost
four years. AdminPros was monitoring prison health
care and trying to get Medicaid to pay for some inmate hospital stays. U.S.
Magistrate Judge Keith Ball set an Oct. 3 trial, but defense lawyers told
Ball they would seek a delay. Malone was released on $10,000 unsecured bail.
"She pled not guilty today," said Bill Wheeler, one of Malone's
lawyers. "She hasn't done anything wrong." Malone is the wife of
former state Rep. Bennett Malone, D-Carthage, then-chairman of the state
House Corrections Committee. Wheeler said Bennett Malone, who retired in
2015, is suffering from dementia and other ailments. Epps and McCrory pleaded
guilty in February 2015. Epps faces up to 23 years in prison for money
laundering and filing false tax returns related to $1.47 million in bribes
that prosecutors say he took. He's also forfeiting $1.7 million in assets.
McCrory's sentence for money laundering conspiracy could be up to 20 years in
prison. He's also forfeiting $1.7 million in assets. Their sentencing has
been delayed.
Jul 27, 2016 clarionledger.com
Former state Rep. Bennett Malone's wife charged in Epps'
case
The wife of former longtime state Rep. Bennett Malone and an official
with a Houston drug testing company have been charged with conspiracy to pay
bribes in former state Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps’
federal corruption case. Teresa Malone, 54, of Carthage is charged with one
count of conspiracy and one count of bribery. She allegedly paid Epps bribes
and kickbacks for AdminPros LLC, a company that had
multiple contracts
with the Mississippi Department of Corrections to provide medical vendor
monitoring and Medicaid eligibility services. Malone was paid about $5,000 a
month from October 2010 to July 2014 as a consultant. The indictment alleges
Malone gave Epps kickback payments of $1,000 to $1,750 from 2010 through
2014. The indictment claims she was paid at least $170,000 by the company.
Teresa Malone, who underwent a double lung transplant in 2015, faces up to 20
years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy charge and a maximum
of 10 years and $250,000 fine for the bribery charge. She is scheduled to be
arraigned in federal court Wednesday. Bennett Malone served nearly 36 years
in the Legislature in the District 45 seat serving parts of Leake, Neshoba, Rankin and Scott counties. For many years
Teresa Malone served as his assistant in the Legislature, often sitting on
the House floor with him and even speaking on his behalf to media. Bennett
Malone was longtime chairman of the House Corrections Committee under former
Democratic Speaker Billy McCoy and was involved in passage of laws and
policies for private and public prisons. Former Corrections Commissioner
Robert Johnson in 2014 told The Clarion-Ledger that Bennett Malone had been
involved in negotiations for Walnut Grove private prison's per-inmate charges
to the state. Johnson said Bennett Malone was pushing for a higher price for
Walnut Grove, which Johnson thought was "highly improper." Bennett
Malone resigned in 2015, citing declining health, including a battle with
West Nile disease, suffering several falls and a pelvic aneurysm. Mark
Longoria, CEO of Drug Testing Corp., is accused of providing bribes or
kickbacks to Epps by the use of co-defendant Cecil McCrory's company,
Investigative Research Inc. The indictment says in August 2013, MDOC awarded
Drug Testing Corp. the contract to supply it with cups for drug screening. It
also says on Aug. 1, 2013, Drug Testing Corp. invoiced MDOC for the cups in
the the amount of $632,336.25. After receiving
payment from MDOC in September 2013, Drug Testing Corp. then sent McCrory's
company $194,837.50. In May 2014, Drug Testing invoiced MDOC for $149,940 and
a month later sent McCrory's firm $34,997.64. Longoria, 53, of Houston, is
charged with one count of conspiracy to pay bribes. He was scheduled to
appear in court Tuesday and plead guilty, but his initial court appearance
has been postponed until Aug. 3,according to the
U.S. Attorney's Office. Longoria faces a maximum five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. The government will also seek to have Longoria forfeit
$131,389.90. He is the latest person to have his indictment unsealed in the
case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca had
said earlier this month that up to 10 additional individuals would likely
face indictment in the Epps case. He had said the indictments would be made
public by July 25. Prosecutors gave no indication Monday when additional
indictments would be made public. Last week,Dr. Carl Reddix of Jackson was
charged with paying bribes and kickbacks to to Epps
in exchange for receiving contracts involving MDOC and its operations. Reddix, 57, faces a seven-count indictment returned by a
federal grand jury for conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and
six counts of bribery. According to the indictment, starting in 2012 and
continuing until October 2014, Reddix gave Epps
bribes and kickbacks in exchange for the awarding and retention of MDOC
contracts for his company, Health Assurance LLC, to provide inmate health
care services at four facilities: Walnut Grove Correctional Facility; East
Mississippi Correctional Facility; Marshall County Correctional Facility and
Wilkinson County Correctional Facility. The contracts were valued at over $29
million. The indictment alleges Reddix made cash
payments to Epps ranging from $8,000 to $9,500 per month from May through
October 2014. Reddix's attorney, Lisa Ross, entered
a not guilty plea on his behalf in his initial court appearance before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Keith Ball, who set an Oct. 3 trial date for Reddix, but rarely does a trial occur on the first trial
setting. Epps is accused of running one of the largest and longest criminal
conspiracies in state government history, taking at least $1.4 million in
bribes and kickbacks over eight years to steer more than $800 million worth
of state prison contracts. Epps was indicted in November 2014 on 49 federal
charges including bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and tax evasion. In
February, he pleaded guilty to a bribery count and a tax count. His attorney,
John Colette, has said federal prosecutors have recommended a lenient
sentence in exchange for his cooperation. Epps has fully cooperated in the
case and donned wiretaps to help in the investigation, according to Colette.
In addition to Epps, Brandon businessman Cecil McCrory and Carthage prison
phone consultant Sam Waggoner have been charged. Irb
Benjamin, a former legislator, and Robert Simmons, a business consultant,
have been charged in a related case on the Gulf Coast involving bribery of
Epps. And a Harrison County supervisor, William Martin, committed suicide on
the day he was to appear in federal court to answer charges he took kickbacks
from jail contracts. Epps faces a maximum 23 years in prison and $750,000 in
fines, but he is expected to receive less time under a plea agreement with
the government if Wingate accepts the recommendations of prosecutors.
However, prosecutors and Colette have yet to agree on the amount of benefits
Epps received as result of prison contracts that are part of the case.
Prosecutors want the judge to take into account the "net benefit"
of the gross amount derived from bribery and used when calculating Epps' sentence. The defense argues that in an earlier
pre-sentencing report, probation officers listed the gross amount of
contracts involving bribes at $329 million. Colette said sentencing should be
based on the amount of the bribes, $1.4 million. United States Assistant
Attorney Darren LaMarca is advocating that Wingate
use an alternative method based upon the influence Epps had in securing
contracts and consultant work for others that led to him receiving kickbacks.
Under the alternative calculation, Epps' exposure
would jump to more than $40 million, LaMarca said.
McCrory's attorney, Carlos Tanner, said his client will withdraw his guilty
plea to one count of bribing Epps. Tanner, who became McCrory's attorney
after his guilty plea, says his client is innocent of the charge. Last
August, Waggoner pleaded guilty to one count of bribery, admitting to Wingate
he paid more than $108,000 in kickbacks to Epps from a consulting contract
with a prison phone company. A grand jury in August indicted Benjamin on
charges he bribed Epps for a contract for drug and alcohol treatment for
inmates and to help Benjamin garner consulting contracts from three county
jails and a company helping maintain state prisons. Benjamin hasn't entered a
guilty plea in his case.
Jul 21, 2016
correctionsone.com
Miss. physician indicted on prison bribery scandal
JACKSON, Miss. — A physician associated with a company that provides
health care for Mississippi prisoners has been indicted on charges of bribing
former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps. Federal
prosecutors announced Wednesday that Dr. Carl Reddix,
57, is facing six counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit
honest services wire fraud. The indictment states that Reddix
began paying Epps $6,000 in cash monthly in 2012, an amount that rose to
$8,000 per month in 2013 after Health Assurance gained an additional contract
to provide care at a correctional complex in Wilkinson County. The amounts
rose to $9,000 in August and September 2014, concluding with $9,500 in
October 2014, according to court documents. The company eventually was
providing health care at four privately-run state prisons, and prosecutors
said the contracts at the four prisons were worth $29 million overall. The
physician was scheduled to face a Wednesday afternoon appearance before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Keith Ball. Contacted on Tuesday by The Associated Press, Reddix didn't identify his lawyer before hanging up. No
lawyer is listed in court papers. Corporate records show Reddix
was one of the leaders of Health Assurance, a company that provides medical
care to state prisons and county jails, until 2015. The indictment describes
him as an owner. Records maintained by the Mississippi Center for Public
Policy show Health Assurance show has collected more than $40 million from
the state since 2003 and more than $22 million from six Mississippi counties
since 2004. Epps and a businessman, Cecil McCrory of Brandon, pleaded guilty
in February 2015 to charges connected to the bribery scheme, which cast a
harsh light on Mississippi politics and its prison system. Epps faces up to
23 years on charges of money laundering and filing false tax returns related
to $1.47 million in bribes that prosecutors said he took. He's forfeiting
$1.7 million in assets. McCrory, a former state House member, pleaded guilty
to one count of money laundering conspiracy and faces a 20-year sentence.
He's forfeiting $1.7 million in assets. Their sentencing has been delayed.
Separately, a former prison phone communications consultant has pleaded
guilty to bribing Epps and faces delayed sentencing. Federal prosecutors have
said as many as 11 others could face criminal charges in the prison contract
bribery scheme. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca
said this week that prosecutors will announce some of those charged on
Monday.
Jun 14, 2016 clarionledger.com
Who is implicated in Epps
case?
JACKSON - Thursday was like
“Groundhog Day” in the Christopher Epps prosecution. Everything was on
repeat. Lawyers were again arguing in federal court over how to count the
damage the former Mississippi corrections commissioner did to the state
through a bribery scheme with Brandon businessman and former state House
member Cecil McCrory. McCrory’s lawyer said he’s still considering asking
U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate to allow McCrory to withdraw his guilty
plea. And prosecutors said they’re still on the cusp of unsealing more
indictments in the prosecution. That’s pretty much where things left off
following the previous hearing in April. Then, Wingate decided he didn’t have
enough information to sentence Epps under the prosecution’s theory that the
recommended sentence should be calculated based on the economic loss to the
state and not just on the $1.47 million in bribes both sides agree Epps took.
Some of that information has now arrived, but Wingate ruled defense lawyers
need more time to review it. Prosecutors had initially suggested the value of
the loss was a staggering $868 million, but it turns out that’s the gross
value of all the contracts Epps approved for 15 companies in question. Both sides
now agree they need to seek the net benefit to the companies, which is a
measure of something like profit, although exactly what should be included or
excluded in expenses remains a matter of dispute. The government lists 15
companies that were part of the scheme to bribe McCrory and Epps. McCrory’s
lawyer, Carlos Tanner, says the government should have to prove the companies
knew the payments to McCrory were bribes. “The whole premise here is that but
for the bribe, Geo wouldn’t have gotten the contract,” Tanner told Wingate.
“It would have to be for work he (McCrory) didn’t do. The only way the
government’s theory holds water is if Geo knew there was a bribe here.” That
opens the doorway to a question that has lurked in the background since the
indictment against Epps and McCrory was unsealed nearly two years ago: Why
haven’t the companies or their employees faced criminal charges? The cast of
companies alleged to have made payments features some prominent names in the
world of private prison contracting. Wingate asked Assistant U.S. Attorney
Darren LaMarca whether Geo Group, the Florida-based
private prison firm that used to run three Mississippi prisons, was a target
of criminal inquiry before Geo Group Finance Director John Tyrrell took the
stand. LaMarca said prosecutors have no information
at this point that could lead to charges against Geo. A number of the
companies have denied knowing the consultants they hired were kicking back
money to Epps or other officials. “We often have consultants in the various
jurisdictions where we do business,” Tyrrell testified. Less clear is why Geo
and others felt they needed consultants, and what they were getting for the
money. Geo was paying McCrory $5,000 a month, an amount President and Chief
Operating Officer Wayne Calabrese later increased to $10,000. Tyrrell
speculated that amount increased after Geo took over Cornell Cos., another
private prison contractor, which had run a troubled youth prison in Walnut
Grove. John Colette, Epps’ lawyer, denies his
client was getting any of that Geo money, even though Epps may have suggested
McCrory as Geo’s consultant. But it didn’t sound like McCrory was keeping all
of it. Tanner made statements to the effect that McCrory was passing 60
percent of the Geo money onto someone else. It’s unclear who that someone
else is. But federal prosecutors may answer that question soon.
Jun 9, 2016
greenfieldreporter.com
Plans to sentence former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher
Epps and Brandon businessman Cecil McCrory on July 19 are in peril after a
judge delayed hearing sentencing-related
JACKSON, Mississippi — Plans to sentence former Mississippi Corrections
Commissioner Christopher Epps and Brandon businessman Cecil McCrory on July
19 are in peril after a judge delayed a hearing on sentencing-related
evidence. U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate Thursday gave defense lawyers
more time to review materials concerning how much money was gained by
companies that bribed Epps and McCrory. Wingate is giving prosecutors until
June 29 to gather more evidence from 15 companies. The judge says he'll then
decide how long defense lawyers need to prepare for a hearing. Prosecutors
hope to use the evidence to increase recommended prison sentences of Epps and
McCrory. Epps faces up to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty in
February 2015 to money laundering and filing false tax returns related to
$1.47 million in bribes.
Jul
6, 2016 gulflive.com
Prosecutor: 11 more to be charged in Mississippi prison bribery inquiry
JACKSON, Mississippi — As many as 11 more people may face criminal
charges stemming from a Mississippi prison contract bribery scheme, a federal
prosecutor said Wednesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca
told U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate during a hearing that prosecutors
plan to announce the charges by mid-July. The hearing concerned evidence
relating to the sentencing of former Corrections Commissioner Christopher
Epps and Brandon businessman Cecil McCrory. The prosecutor also said
inquiries reach beyond prison-related corruption and stretch outside
Mississippi. "We're getting farther away from the trunk of the tree to
the branches, but it all began with Mr. Epps, with the trunk," he said. LaMarca estimated that the net benefit to companies as a
result of Epps' corrupt actions, after some costs
were subtracted, was more than $65 million. He said 10 more people could face
federal charges, while one could face state charges. LaMarca
said investigators have determined that Epps demanded money to exercise his
influence not only at the state level, but among county supervisors. Because
Epps controlled where state inmates were housed, that gave him influence over
local jails as well, LaMarca said. "Through
his position, he was able to wield a great deal of influence, for which Mr.
Epps wanted to be compensated above his salary," he said. Epps and
McCrory pleaded guilty in February 2015. Epps faces up to 23 years on charges
of money laundering and filing false tax returns related to $1.47 million in
bribes prosecutors say he took. He's forfeiting $1.7 million in assets.
McCrory, a former state House member, pleaded guilty to one count of money
laundering conspiracy and faces a 20-year sentence. He agreed to forfeit $1.7
million in assets. In addition to McCrory, former prison phone consultant Sam
Waggoner and Harrison County political operative Robert Simmons have pleaded
guilty to bribing Epps in return for contracts. Former state Rep. Irb Benjamin of Madison is charged with bribing Epps for
contracts at prison work centers and county jails. Benjamin's July 5 trial is
likely to be delayed. Epps' sentencing could be
delayed again past the current July 18 date by prosecutors' efforts to
increase the recommended length of his prison sentence. If the court
sentences Epps based on the prosecutors' $65 million estimate, federal
sentencing guidelines would recommend a maximum of 23 years. However, defense
lawyer John Colette continued Wednesday to ask Wingate to instead sentence
Epps based on the bribes he collected. Lawyers said Wednesday that if the
$1.47 million amount is used, Epps faces a recommended sentence between 14
and 17 1/2 years. Wingate doesn't have to accept either recommendation, and
prosecutors have agreed to recommend less prison time for Epps because of his
cooperation. Calculating benefit requires examining financial statements of
16 contractors. Colette said he received more than 1,500 pages of documents
in the last week and needs at least 30 days to review them. Four companies
are asking Wingate to shield their information from public view, while four
others haven't responded to subpoenas. Wingate said he would hold a hearing
in the next 10 days to consider requests for protective orders, and to
consider ordering companies that haven't responded to show why Wingate
shouldn't hold them in contempt. Wingate said he'd wait until the show-cause
hearing to decide on whether he'll again delay sentencing.
Apr 16, 2016 themississippilink.com
Mississippi: Epps delay over more documents
Former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps
appeared again in federal court Monday before Judge Henry T. Wingate to learn
his fate — what he learned — was that he would have to wait. Wingate delayed
sentencing Epps until July 18 because of bombshells dropped by the
prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca
shared in court that his team has discovered nearly 16 additional contracts
connected to the MDOC kickback-bribery scandal that took Epps down in 2014.
The new contract discoveries could increase the gross value to $800 million
from the initial $300 million the government presented at the onset of
indictments against Epps, claiming that he could have possibly tainted them
and received substantial monetary payments. In asking for more time from the
courts, LaMarca argued that 15-16 CEOs and other
associates connected to the new discoveries would need to be subpoenaed and
interviewed. He also said to Wingate that “it was up to the courts to
determine the net-value of the contracts and not the gross amounts,” when
determining prison time under sentencing guidelines. John Colette of Jackson,
the attorney representing Epps, said prosecuters
are planning to recommend a sentence below federal guidelines to Wingate
based on Epps’ “substantial” cooperation. Epps and
Rankin County businessman Cecil McCrory, a former legislator, were arrested
in August 2014 on multiple counts that they conspired for McCrory to get MDOC
contracts, while providing Epps with kickbacks. Epps, who originally was
indicted on 40 counts of bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and tax
charges, plead guilty to two of those charges, which were felony bribery
charges. McCrory was originally indicted on 15 counts. McCrory’s attorney
Carlos Tanner, who is based in Jackson, shocked the court when he provided
testimony that he would file a motion with the court, asking for a withdrawal
of the guilty plea of which McCrory originally pleaded. “My client is
factually innocent of what he pleaded guilty to,” Tanner said. “I came aboard
in the middle of this case and based on what I’ve seen, I never would have
recommended that he plead guilty.” Tanner called the $800 million
“preposterous” and said he was still reviewing more than 70 CDs presented by
the state. Meanwhile, Wingate set a June 9 hearing date for prosecutors to
present their new findings to the court. McCrory was set to be sentenced June
9 as well, but Tanner told Wingate new discoveries at the hearing on that
date could affect his client’s defense. As it stands now, Epps could face up
to 23 years in prison and a $750,000 fine; McCrory, 20 years in prison and a
$500,000 fine.
April 11, 2016 dailyjournal.net
Former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps could get up to
23 years in prison when a judge sentences him Monday
JACKSON, Mississippi — Former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner
Christopher Epps could get up to 23 years in prison when a judge sentences
him Monday. U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate is scheduled to decide how
long Epps will be locked up. The former prisons chief pleaded guilty in
February 2015 to money laundering and filing false tax returns related to
$1.47 million in bribes prosecutors say he took. Epps has already agreed to
forfeit $1.7 million in assets, including cash, brokerage accounts, a house, a
beachfront condo and two luxury cars. Defense lawyer John Colette told
Wingate in January that he was seeking to drive down the government
sentencing recommendation from the maximum 23 years. Wingate could accept the
government recommendation, or sentence Epps to some other length of
imprisonment.
Mar
2, 2016 clarionledger.com
C-L wins award for prison stories
The Private Corrections Institute, a nonprofit citizen watchdog
organization, gave its award for excellence in news reporting during 2015 to
Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter with The Clarion-Ledger, for
articles regarding conditions, violence and abuses at private prisons in
Mississippi. Mitchell also helped cover the indictments of then-Mississippi
Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps and others, as well as fallout from the
scandal. Epps has pleaded guilty to corruption charges, taking bribes from
private prison firms and others. “This award belongs to the staff of The
Clarion-Ledger and especially my boss, Assistant Managing Editor Debbie Skipper,
who worked not only with our staff, but with freelancers as well, in
producing our series, ‘Hard Look at Hard Time,’ and to oversee our coverage
of the corruption indictments of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps and
others,” Mitchell said. PCI opposes the privatization of the correctional
services, including the operations of prisons, jails and other detention
facilities by for-profit companies, including Corrections Corporation of
America and The GEO Group, both of which trade on the New York Stock
Exchange. Ryann Greenberg received PCI’s 2015 award for exceptional activism
against the privatization of correctional services. Ryann, who resides in
Florida, was the driving force behind opposition to a privately operated
immigration detention facility that CCA planned to build just outside
Pembroke Pines. Despite the project being a “done deal,” Ryann rallied
support and worked with other activists, and was ultimately successful in
defeating it in 2012. “The for-profit prison model doesn’t fit into a future
for our nation that I would want to be a part of. I had no choice but to step
up and get involved,” Ryann said. “I am so happy to see over the last several
years the national discussion is being changed and people are recognizing
that over-incarceration is not a healthy scenario in this country. Not only
is it fiscally irresponsible but it’s not a humane solution. “From the start
of our prison fight we heard the same mantra. It’s a done deal, It’s a done
deal. I will never look at the words ‘It’s a done deal’ the same way again,”
she continued. “It will forever be a call to action to rise to the occasion.
My hope is that people do not accept defeat as an option, but rather spur
into action to get involved in their community. The work that other activists
and groups are doing is really making a difference on this issue and I’m just
happy to be another voice calling out for the end of for-profit prisons.”
PCI’s 2015 award for outstanding advocacy against the privatization of
correctional services went to In the Public Interest, a research and policy
organization that “promotes the common good and democratic control of public
goods and services.” ITPI has consistently opposed privately-operated
prisons, and in 2013 issued a report titled “Criminal: How Lockup Quotas and
‘Low-Crime Taxes’ Guarantee Profits for Private Prison Corporations.” “I’m
proud that our work has received recognition from the Private Corrections
Institute,” said ITPI Executive Director Donald Cohen. “We have big plans for
2016, and this award will in-spire our work to oppose privatization in the
criminal justice system. Every year, the private corrections industry
collects hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from taxpayers. And too
often the industry cuts corners to make that profit, which hurts incarcerated
people, correctional officers and taxpayers. Opposing privatization in our
criminal justice system is a necessary step towards righting the wrongs of
the mass incarceration era.” The Private Corrections Institute’s third annual
awards were presented by PCI president Alex Friedmann, who served ten years
behind bars in the 1990s, including six years at a CCA-operated prison, prior
to his release in 1999. “Incarcerating people for the purpose of generating
corporate profit is both unacceptable and immoral,” he stated. “We salute
those advocates and activists who continue to address this important social
issue, and reporters who expose shortcomings and corruption in the private
prison industry. We will only see change when the public and policymakers
demand change – and PCI’s annual awards seek to raise public awareness about
for-profit prisons.”
Aug
23, 2015 clarionledger.com
Epps
fallout rooted in private prison expansion
STARKVILLE
– In great measure, the emerging judicial and political fallout from the
bribery scandal surrounding former Mississippi commissioner of public safety
Chris Epps had its origins in Mississippi’s private prisons expansion that
began some 20 years ago. Epps in February pleaded guilty to corruption charges
alleging that Epps and co-conspirator Cecil McCrory, a former lawmaker and
president of the Rankin County school board, engaged in a criminal conspiracy
that saw Epps take nearly $2 million in bribes and kickbacks. Epps pleaded
guilty specifically to money laundering conspiracy and filing a false tax
return. McCrory pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy. Those guilty
pleas came in the wake of a 49-count federal indictment that named Epps and
Cecil McCrory, a onetime state lawmaker who had become involved with the
private prisons industry. Federal prosecutors accused the men of a scheme in
which Mr. McCrory directed more than $1 million to Mr. Epps, including cash
and mortgage payments, in exchange for lucrative state contracts. This week,
federal prosecutors announced another round of indictments alleging that
former state legislator Irb Benjamin and Sam
Waggoner — the nephew of a well-known former state transportation
commissioner of the same name — gave cash to Epps in exchange for state
contracts through the Department of Corrections. Benjamin, a former state
senator from Rienzi from 1980-1992 who now lives in Madison, was a popular
figure around the Capitol during his days in the Legislature. Benjamin worked
for former Lt. Gov. Eddie Briggs in the early 1990s. He later became a
registered lobbyist. During his time working for Briggs, Benjamin was seen as
somewhat of an expert on the concept of regional prisons. Benjamin’s
prominence in the regional prison movement can be seen in a number of state Performance
Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee (PEER) reports on the subject.
Benjamin — after prior questions about his income from the regional prisons —
told the media and former legislative colleagues that he learned about the
regional concept while working in the lieutenant governor’s office. At this
time, Mississippi was under federal judicial scrutiny to ease the state’s
massive prison overcrowding problem. Private prisons and regional prisons
became the go-to legislative solution. Between 1995 and 2001, Mississippi
embarked on a substantial private prison expansion. In 1995, Mississippi
lawmakers followed national trends in attempting to “get tough on crime.” But
in doing so, the lawmakers also dramatically increased the state’s prison
population and therefore the operating costs of the state prison system. The
Legislature adopted the so-called “85 percent rule,” which mandated that all
state convicts must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before being
eligible for parole. Mississippi’s law was in sharp contrast to other states,
where the 85 percent rule applied only to violent offenders. The law had
tremendous impact. On June 30, 1993, the Mississippi Department of
Corrections had 9,629 prisoners with a capacity of 9,164. By the end of 1998,
the figures jumped to 16,695 and 16,007, respectively. Politically, the rise
of private and regional prisons coincided with a shift in the priorities of
some lawmakers in that era from one of holding back costs to the taxpayers to
one of protecting jobs in their districts. The National Institute on Money in
State Politics described the situation as “a major shift in prison
privatization policy.” “No longer were advocates in Mississippi arguing over
how much money privatization would save taxpayers,” the institute report
said. “Instead, they argued that taxpayer subsidies were necessary in hard
economic times to keep existing prison jobs. That fact that these subsidies
would ensure corporate profits went unspoken.” Bottom line? Per capita
spending on corrections in Mississippi rose 115 percent between 1989 and
1998. Clearly, the sunlight being shed on the state’s private prison system
is making an excellent disinfectant.
Jun
18, 2015 clarionledger.com
Mississippi:
Former DOC head doesn’t hold back!!!
At
the end of this month, the Mississippi Department of Corrections Task Force —
created by Gov. Bryant after the indictment of former MDOC Commissioner, and
my successor, Chris Epps — is set to issue their recommendations regarding
Mississippi’s future with for-profit prisons. I encourage them to recommend
the state begin to phase out for-profit prisons and use the savings to (1)
raise compensation for corrections officers to reduce corruption, (2) hire
more qualified corrections officers to increase competency, (3) improve
conditions in current facilities and (4) invest in proven rehabilitation and
training programs. Let me take you back about 20 years and tell you how we
got here. In the mid-to-late 1990’s, Mississippi built 15 new prisons in
seven years to address chronic overcrowding in our corrections system due to
more stringent criminal and sentencing laws. The state relied on for-profit
companies to come in and handle much of this expansion with the promise they
would do so at a lower cost that saves taxpayer money. The deal was taxpayers
would pay for the capital costs to build the new prison facilities and the
private companies would operate them once completed. In 2001, however,
Mississippi faced another problem. After spending millions on building these
new prisons, we had about 2,000 more prison beds than prisoners. Because
for-profit prisons charged the state by the number of inmates they housed, it
made more financial sense to me — as MDOC commissioner at the time — to put
more prisoners in the state-run facilities that we were already paying for
instead of paying an extra per diem to house them in a for-profit prison. It
was like owning a hotel. Why would you pay to put somebody up in another
hotel when you have an empty bed in your own? It was simple economics. As you
can imagine, this was not ideal for the companies operating the for-profit
prisons, as they were losing money on empty beds the state was not paying
for. So, they hired some lobbyists to convince legislators to establish a
minimum bed quota for for-profit prison capacity, guaranteeing them both a
certain number of prisoners and a statutory source of revenue. This made no
sense to me. Nor did it make sense to then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove who vetoed
legislation guaranteeing for profit prison companies a certain number of
inmates. Unfortunately, his veto was ultimately overridden by the
lobbyist-influenced Legislature. Fast-forward about 15 years and the
circumstances have not gotten any better. In fact, they are considerably
worse now that these same companies are embroiled in the corruption scandal
enveloping state government. As of last month, the average occupancy in the
four for-profit prisons that house the state’s inmates was at 79 percent
capacity. Meanwhile, the average occupancy in the three major state-run
prisons was at 71 percent capacity. These state-run prisons have 3,360 empty
beds, which is almost enough to hold the entire prison population housed in
for-profit prisons. Again, if we have the space, why are we paying extra for
them to stay in for-profit prisons? It gets worse. These for-profit prisons
are not keeping their promise to save the state money. In 2014, the average
cost per day to keep an inmate at a for-profit prison was $53.52, including
capital expenses to the taxpayer. The average cost per day to keep an inmate
at one of the three major state-run prisons? $45.19 — over eight bucks
cheaper per prisoner every day. If the 3,936 inmates in for-profit prisons
were moved to these facilities today, it would save the state $32,786.88
tomorrow and nearly $12 million over the next year. A little over a month ago
while speaking on a panel at Ole Miss, Andy Taggart — the co-chairman of the
MDOC Task Force —claimed that he understands the argument that introducing
for-profit prisons was “the only way to get the bed space we needed” 20 years
ago, but that today, “it certainly seems like a bad idea.” He went further to
predict that for-profit prisons were not part of “the long-term future” of
the Mississippi correction system. I agree with him. There is an argument
that for-profit prisons were necessary 20 years ago when Mississippi was
desperate for a quick fix to our prison space problems. But now and for the
foreseeable future, they are no longer necessary and are creating a financial
burden on the taxpayers of Mississippi that is unsustainable. As they
finalize their recommendations in these last few weeks, I hope Mr. Taggart
and the members of the MDOC Task Force take a hard look at both the history
and the current facts and recommend Mississippi phase out its use of
for-profit companies to run its prisons. Robert Johnson was the Mississippi’s
corrections commissioner from 2000-2002, after previously serving as police
chief, in Jackson, as well as Lansing and Jackson, Michigan. He is currently
the owner of RL Johnson & Associates LLC.
June
10, 2015 news.wisc.edu
Study finds private prisons keep inmates longer, without reducing future
crime
The
study of Mississippi prisons shows there may be a financial incentive for the
operators of private prisons to maximize the number of days served for each
prisoner — undermining the cost benefit that makes privatization attractive.
A new study finds that inmates in private prisons are likely to serve as many
as two to three more months behind bars than those assigned to public prisons
and are equally likely to commit more crimes after release, despite industry
claims to lower recidivism rates through high-quality and innovative
rehabilitation programs. The study is believed to be the first effort to
compare time served in public and private prisons. Anita Mukherjee, an
assistant professor of actuarial science, risk management and insurance at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Wisconsin School of Business, sought to
compare public and private prisons in terms of two key outcomes: time served
and recidivism. With private prisons being paid on the basis of each occupied
bed, there may be a financial incentive for the operators of those facilities
to maximize the number of days served for each prisoner, which may not be in
the best interests of the state. "There is a basic fairness issue here —
should prisoners be serving more time simply because they were randomly
assigned to a private prison instead of a public one?" says Mukherjee.
"The number of days a prisoner serves relates directly to the cost of
housing that inmate, so if inmates sent to private prisons somehow serve
longer terms, this undermines the very cost benefit that makes private
prisons attractive relative to public prisons." Mukherjee reviewed data
from private prisons in Mississippi between 1996 and 2004. The United States
houses 10 percent of its prison population in private prisons, which
represent a $5 billion industry. Private prisons accounted for about 40
percent of all prison beds in Mississippi in 2012 and the state had the
second highest incarceration rate in the country. States typically contract
with private prison operators to save money and expand bed capacity. In
Mississippi, state law requires private prisons to provide a cost savings of
at least 10 percent compared to public facilities. The research found that
prisoners in private facilities had an increase in their sentence of four to
seven percent, which equaled 60 to 90 days for the average prisoner. With the
average contractual payment to private prison operators in Mississippi being
$50 for each bed occupied, an extra 60 days added to a prisoner's sentence
leads to an average additional cost per prisoner of about $3,000. That added
expense erodes about half of the projected cost savings offered by private
prisons in the state. Fueling the increase in time served is the widespread
use of prison conduct violations in private facilities. Mukherjee found that
prisoners in every demographic, offense, and sentence length category
accumulated more infractions if they were assigned to a private prison.
Overall, inmates in private prisons received twice as many infractions as
those in public prisons. In Mississippi, infractions are used by the state
parole board in assessing whether a prisoner should be granted early release.
“If inmates sent to private prisons somehow serve longer terms, this
undermines the very cost benefit that makes private prisons attractive
relative to public prisons.” Anita Mukherjee "The findings suggest that
states hiring private prison contractors need to exercise care in structuring
incentives that match their desired public policy outcomes, whether it be
reducing costs or reducing recidivism rates," says Mukherjee, an
assistant professor at the Wisconsin School of Business. "States may
want to consider increased monitoring to prevent excessive violations to keep
costs in line or having contracts that don't just reward operators for
filling beds but require them to produce outcomes such as reduced rates of
recidivism." In the United Kingdom, Mukherjee says the government has
experimented with "pay for performance" private prison contracts,
resulting in decreases in recidivism for prisoners assigned to those
facilities. Mississippi's private prisons have been a source of controversy,
with advocacy groups and human rights organizations filing numerous
complaints and lawsuits. Since 2012, several private prison operators have
been fired and seen their facilities turned over to other companies. Last November,
the state's corrections commissioner was the target of a 49-count federal
indictment accusing him of taking bribes from a former state official who
owned or represented several private prison companies that received state
contracts. Mukherjee's research, "Do Private Prisons Distort Justice?
Evidence on Time Served and Recidivism," is available online.
Mar
21, 2015 clarionledger.com
Religious
leaders appalled at Mississippi's embattled correctional system amid the
proliferation of private prisons will lobby for change through a newly formed
group called Clergy for Prison Reform, or CPR. Boasting a statewide
membership of some 50 church leaders representing numerous faiths – including
Baptist, Catholic, Episcopalian and Methodist – the coalition plans to take
an active role in ongoing efforts to improve the Mississippi prison system.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections, already under fire by several
groups for its deplorable prison conditions, came under heightened scrutiny
in November after federal indictments accused former Corrections Commissioner
Chris Epps of masterminding one of the state's largest bribery schemes in
recent history. Epps and co-conspirator, Rankin County businessman Cecil McCroy, both pleaded guilty to reduced charges in
February and await sentencing. Meanwhile, a task force created in the wake of
those indictments continues reviewing the agency's policies, practices and
contracts and will make recommendations in a report to Gov. Phil Bryant. CPR
members say they want to have a sustained impact on that task force. They
appeared at the task force's public hearing Friday and said they will
organize other efforts in the coming weeks and months. "We are preachers
across racial, denominational and ideological lines who all share a common
belief that private prisons haven't done what they promised to do," said
the Rev. CJ Rhodes, CPR's president and pastor at Mt. Helm Baptist Church in
Jackson. "The profit incentives have made rehabilitation and restoration
of our citizens a side issue as opposed to the main thing." Mississippi
has the nation's second-highest incarceration rate with more than 17,600 men
and women behind bars this month alone, according to MDOC statistics. Nearly
one-fourth of them are at the six privately run prisons. Private prisons
started becoming popular nationwide in the 1990s as a way to save money.
Mississippi opened the doors to private prison operators around the same but
have become a source of controversy as the state's incarceration rate rose
and problems within the facilities mounted. Among the biggest operators of
private prisons in Mississippi is the Utah-based Management and Training
Corporation, whose contracts federal investigators claim were part of the
bribery scheme. The task force is reviewing those deals now, and religious
leaders want input.They believe their words will
resonate louder than those of outside organizations, like the American Civil
Liberties Union, that have raised identical concerns. "Mississippi is
real Christian conservative state, and we're a voice of influence in our
community," said Bishop Lionel Traylor of the Epicenter Church in south
Jackson. "You get 20, 30, 40 preachers in a room, we have some
influence." For Traylor, this particular mission is personal. The New
Orleans native did time in the Louisiana correctional system as a juvenile
and young adult. The experience opened his eyes to the inherent flaws of locking
up troubled individuals without providing counseling, educational
opportunities or job training. Such a system breeds delinquency, he said. It
manifests as chaos inside the prisons, and recidivism in the communities –
creating a perpetual cycle of criminality that benefits no one. No one,
Traylor said, except those who stand to profit. "Prisons are not doing
their part in reforming these incarcerated people," he said. "Bring
them into an asylum and make them twice an animal that they were. You're only
there to make money. You're not concerned about citizens of
Mississippi."
Feb 26, 2015 clarionledger.com
Former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps
pleaded guilty to two federal charges Wednesday — and officials talked of
more indictments in the continuing investigation. "I'm sorry for what
I've done," Epps told U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate. "I've
repented before God. I apologize to my family and the state of
Mississippi." He first met Cecil McCrory in 1997 when he was serving in
the Mississippi Legislature. "He gave me gratuities," said Epps,
who was working for the state Department of Corrections but was not yet
commissioner. In 2008, after McCrory sold GT Enterprises and Epps gave
McCrory a favorable recommendation, McCrory sent $200,000 in payments to pay
off the mortgage that Epps had on his 3,800-square-foot home in Flowood,
valued at $310,000, Epps said. McCrory, who also pleaded guilty Wednesday,
said Epps was the one who approached him about paying off the Flowood home.
"He talked me into making that first payment," he told the judge.
"It's something I never thought I would do, but I can't take it
back." Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst of Jackson described how Epps
used that home equity to take out a loan for a condominium in Biloxi. After
McCrory paid off that condo, Epps used that equity to get a bigger
condominium in Pass Christian. Epps, who was originally indicted on 40 counts
of bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and tax charges, also pleaded guilty
to filing a false tax return for tax year 2008. Epps pled guilty to telling
the IRS he earned only $205,540 when he actually received at least $405,540.
McCrory pleaded guilty Wednesday to being a part of the same money laundering
conspiracy. If Epps had not pleaded, McCrory would have been a witness
against him. McCrory told the judge that he had received $2 million directly
from the state Department of Corrections and another $3 million as a
consultant for other companies. He agreed to forfeit $1.2 million in cash,
plus condominiums and a 2013 Chevy Avalanche to federal officials. Epps' sentencing is set for June 9, and McCrory is set to
be sentenced June 10. Under the counts he pleaded guilty to, Epps faces up to
23 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. McCrory faces up to 20 years in
prison and $500,000 in fines. State Auditor Stacey Pickering said Wednesday
that the guilty pleas are "another testament to the strength of this
case and state, federal and local officials working together." The pleas
are "just the second step in a very high-profile, very ugly chapter in
Mississippi history" and he expects the case, which the FBI dubbed the
"Mississippi Hustle," will continue."I
would not be surprised to see other indictments and other charges come
forward, and other individuals involved," he said. Gov. Phil Bryant has
appointed a task force to study state government contracts, especially no-bid
contracts. He said he appreciated the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Office
of the State Auditor for "vigorously prosecuting this case, and I hope
it serves as an example that there are consequences for public corruption. As
former state auditor, I will not tolerate corruption at any level, and I am
continuing to work with the Legislature to implement meaningful reform to the
state contracting process." Federal prosecutors laid out a scheme in
which they said Epps received about $2 million in bribes and kickbacks over
the last eight years in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in
prison contracts. He resigned his $132,700 a year government job in November
just before his indictment. McCrory was also indicted at the same time, on 15
counts. He is accused of bribing Epps and raking in cash from sweetheart
contracts and consulting fees. He resigned the school board a few days before
Epps. When the FBI arrested Epps, agents found $69,600 in cash in his safe.
There was also about $1 million in his investment-retirement account,
prosecutors said. Epps agreed Wednesday to forfeit all that money, along with
his Flowood home, his Pass Christian condo and two Mercedes-Benz cars
June 14, 2012 Huffington Post
After years of widespread violence and sexual abuse at Mississippi's
for-profit prison for juvenile offenders, state officials and civil rights
groups signed a federal court decree in March aimed at overhauling a facility
described by a federal judge as "a cesspool of unconstitutional and
inhuman acts." U.S. Justice Department investigators found that both
state officials and the GEO Group Inc., the nation's second-largest operator
of private prisons, had essentially ignored the safety of youth prisoners,
denying them basic health care and employing guards with known gang
affiliations. Sexual misconduct between staff and inmates at the Walnut Grove
youth prison was "among the worst we have seen in any facility anywhere
in the nation," the Justice Department's investigation concluded. Yet
two months after a federal court settlement, violence and poor staffing have
persisted, including a fight that resulted in a young man being stabbed in
the eye, according to recent court transcripts. In response, a top
Mississippi state prison official recently testified that the state has no
authority to force the GEO Group to improve security at the chronically
understaffed facility, raising questions about the lines of authority for
corrections policy in Mississippi. "All we can do is make a
request," said Emmitt Sparkman, deputy commissioner of the Mississippi
Department of Corrections, in federal court testimony two weeks ago. He added
that the GEO Group was "under no obligation" to increase staffing
under the terms of its contract with the state. Though a federal judge found
that state officials "repeatedly failed to monitor the contracts with
GEO," Mississippi plans to replace GEO with Management & Training
Corp., a private company responsible for one of the most tragic prison breaks
in recent memory. The GEO Group, which has donated more than $56,000 to
Mississippi elected officials over the past decade, did not respond to
questions about its contracts in the state. A spokeswoman for the Mississippi
Department of Corrections declined to make officials available for comment.
GEO Group has operated Walnut Grove since 2010, after acquiring the prison in
a merger with another prison corporation, Cornell Companies Inc.
June 7, 2012 WTOK
MTC will officially take over operation at East Mississippi Correctional
Facility on July 9th. The company got its start working with young people
outside the corrections system. The Vice President of Corrections at MTC
explained the company's history via a video news release. "We started 30
years ago by providing training for young adults to succeed in life,"
says Odie Washington, "we've taken that and applied it to our
corrections division. "All you are going to see is a change in the name
over the door," that's the opinion of Frank Smith, a private prison
watchdog, "it's not going to be a change in operations." Smith
works as a consultant for Private Corrections Working Group. "The
problem is there is such turnover that there is no mentoring process so
everybody is just kind of new on the job, and they don't know what to do when
the problems arise." MTC officials say they plan on providing EMCF with
all the resources it needs to operate effectively. "We'll provide each
facility the resources necessary for them to operate safely and
effectively," says Washington, and we look forward to applying these
high standards to our new Mississippi facilities as well." Only time
will tell whether MTC will have a successful run in the Magnolia State.
June 7, 2012 AP
A Utah-based private prison operator will take over management of three
Mississippi correctional institutions beginning in July. Management &
Training Corporation of Centreville, Utah, has signed 10-year operating
contracts for the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap
community beginning July 2; Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in
Walnut Grove on July 9; and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in
Holly Springs on Aug. 13. Financial details of the contracts were not made
public. The announcement came Thursday by the company and the Mississippi
Department of Corrections. The Corrections Department and the GEO Group of
Boca Raton, Fla., in April agreed to end GEO's management contract at the
three prisons. At the time Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps told the AP
that the department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons
were presented as a package to other corrections management companies.
"The Mississippi Department of Corrections is looking forward to a great
partnership with MTC," Epps said in a statement Thursday. "There is
a need for different types of prisons, including state and regional as well
as private facilities in Mississippi. MTC will be held to the same high
standards as set by MDOC and I feel extremely confident that MTC will do a
great job." "We look forward to the opportunity to work in
Mississippi," said MTC senior vice president of corrections Odie
Washington in the statement. "We have partnered with state and federal
governments in operating correctional facilities for the past 25 years, and
have a strong record of providing safe, secure and well-run facilities."
April 20, 2012 WTOK
On Friday Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps reeled off a
long list of problems the state has been monitoring at East Mississippi
Correctional Facility in recent weeks and months. Those issues include a
murder and multiple suicides. Epps says the final straw with GEO Group, the
current manager of EMCF, came when the company asked the state for $5 million
more to operate the facility. GEO Group is painting a different picture of
the split, saying they initiated the move because the facility is financially
under-performing.
April 20, 2012 AP
The Mississippi Department of Corrections says GEO Group Inc., one of the
country's largest private prison operators, will no longer manage three
facilities in Mississippi. On Thursday, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based company
said it was backing out of a contract to manage the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap community by July 19. Company
officials told The Associated Press on Friday that it had nothing else to
say. Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps told the AP on Friday that the
department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons were
presented as a package to other corrections management companies. Epps said
he would expect GEO Group to end its ties to the Walnut Grove Youth
Correctional Facility in Walnut Grove and Marshall County Correctional
Facility in Holly Springs by July 20. "We feel this may be a golden
opportunity to provide a better price for the taxpayers of the state and at
the same time maybe do a better job in the operation of the facilities,"
Epps said. "That's what I would like to see." Epps said there was
some concern at MDOC about incidents at all three prisons. The Walnut Grove
facility is presently under a federal court order to remove juvenile inmates
amid allegations of physical and sexual abuse. That court order came in a
settlement of a lawsuit filed against Walnut Grove in 2010. GEO Group has
repeatedly declined to comment on the lawsuit. Epps has said his plan is to
send the 17-and-younger inmates to Central Mississippi Correctional Facility
in Rankin County by Oct. 1. He said there are about 1,000 vacant beds at that
prison now, so there is no need for a new building. Walnut Grove also houses
adults. They would remain there under a settlement that ended a 2010 lawsuit.
Epps said Friday that local authority boards deal with management contracts at
EMCF and Walnut Grove with MDOC help. He said MDOC works directly with
vendors at Marshall County. "There are a lot of these management
companies out there. We're reaching out to those private operators to see
what the best proposal is we might get," he said. In its announcement,
GEO chairman/CEO George C. Zoley said EMCF was
"financially underperforming." GEO Group vice president Pablo E. Paez said Friday the company would have no other comment.
May 5, 2011 Clarion Ledger
Those upset with conditions at Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility
delivered hundreds of petitions to Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps
Thursday, calling for him to cancel the contract with GEO Group, the
Florida-based company that runs the prison. Because of pending litigation, the
Mississippi Department of Corrections cannot comment, said MDOC spokeswoman
Tara Booth. Mississippi's lone youth prison that holds 1,200 inmates remains
the target of a federal probe and lawsuit. Michael McIntosh said it's been 14
months since his son was brutally beaten and stabbed, resulting in
irreparable brain damage. A number of young inmates were injured in a Feb.
27, 2010, melee. The Rev. Milton Johnson, an associate pastor in Meridian,
noted that delivering these petitions was appropriate on the National Day of
Prayer. "If we succeed in real rehabilitation, then they (youth) will be
an asset to our communities and state, not society rejects," he said.
"We cannot allow our children to abandon hope." Ethel Thomas Heard
noted that this Mother's Day, her only son will remain behind bars at Walnut
Grove, and she is not alone, she said. "We know what it feels like to
wake up with our heads on tear-drenched pillows." A number of young The
U.S. Department of Justice is now investigating the treatment of juveniles at
the prison. In November, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil
Liberties Union and Jackson lawyer Robert McDuff filed a lawsuit against the
GEO Group on behalf of 13 offenders at the Leake
County prison. The lawsuit alleges young offenders are being forced to live
in "barbaric, unconstitutional conditions." The lawsuit alleges
guards beat inmates, smuggled drugs to the youths and engaged in sexual acts
with them.
December 2, 2008 Clarion Ledger
William Morris Byrd Jr. had been in and out of prison most of his life, but
Charlotte Boyd, his sister, said he did not have to die there. Byrd, 53, died
Nov. 21 after what Boyd described as months of wasting away at Central
Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl. While the family is waiting for
the autopsy, Boyd said the initial cause of death is Crohn's Disease, a
chronic but treatable inflammation of the digestive path that she said had
blocked her brother's esophagus. "He literally starved. We watched him
turn into a skeleton," she said. Byrd was serving a lengthy sentence for
rape and was not eligible for parole until 2020. Boyd realizes her brother
may not be a sympathetic figure to most, but after reading a story last week
in The Clarion-Ledger, she said her brother may not be alone. "If they
are doing him that way, they are going to let somebody else die, too,"
she said. "Even a dog needs medical attention." Mississippi
Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Byrd received appropriate medical
care from the prison. "We provided timely, quality medical care for the
inmate," he said, "as we do for all of our inmates."
Mississippi's per-capita death rate for prisoners has spiked in recent years.
In 2001, the state's death rate was at the national average, but in 2006 Mississippi's
inmate death rate was the second highest in the nation. In 2007, inmate
deaths rose again. The majority of those deaths are from natural causes, and
former inmates and family members of current inmates say medical care in the
state's prison system is inadequate. Epps blames the higher death rate on
several factors, including an increasingly aged prison population and
generally unhealthy lifestyles that have made the state a leader in medical
problems like heart disease and diabetes. Epps expressed confidence in MDOC's
medical contractor, Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Wexford Health Sources, but the
Legislative Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review
last year released a report criticizing the prison system's response to
chronic-care issues. PEER also found that Wexford's medical staffing was not
in compliance with the terms of its contract with the state. The report found
13 percent staffing shortages at the MDOC prisons in Pearl, Parchman and Leakesville. Officials at MDOC referred
questions about current Wexford staffing levels to the contractor. Wexford
did not return a telephone call Monday but last week referred questions to
MDOC. Senate Corrections Chairman Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, said the
increase in the prisoner death rate is worth keeping an eye on, but he said Epps' explanation of the increase is plausible. It's
something lawmakers would want to pay attention to and monitor, "get a
little more information on," he said. "It didn't come across as
there was any kind of serious problem of neglect." But the rising number
of deaths worries people like Diane Rowell, whose hypoglycemic son is in
South Mississippi Correctional Facility serving a short sentence for a parole
violation. She said her son has lost weight and complains of being tired.
"It worries me. I cry a lot about it," she said. "I know they
broke the law, but they are still human beings."
November 23, 2008 Clarion Ledger
Mississippi's inmate mortality rate was second in the nation in 2006, the
most recent year for which national data are available. And according to a
review of state-level reports, Mississippi's mortality rate rose in 2007.
It's a situation that is raising legal concerns with lawmakers and moral
questions with prison-reform advocates. Mississippi Department of Corrections
officials say the high rate of in-custody deaths is the result of a number of
factors: aging prisoners, drug and alcohol abuse prior to incarceration and
the generally unhealthy lifestyles of Mississippians. But Patti Barber,
executive director of the prison-reform group Mississippi CURE, said the
state does a poor job of looking after the chronic health needs of inmates.
"We are getting tons of letters from inmates, for instance, who have
been diagnosed with diabetes. They are not getting their (blood) sugar
checked daily, as they are supposed to," she said. "Things just
plain aren't getting done." That is what the Mississippi Legislature's
Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review found last
December when it released a report on inmate health care. The PEER report
found inmates did not receive timely medical treatment from MDOC's medical
contractor, Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources, and that Wexford did not
meet medical care standards set forth under its contract with the state. In
addition, the PEER committee found Wexford did not adhere to its own
standards in following up on inmates with chronic health problems. Wexford,
which took over inmate care in 2006, referred all questions to MDOC.
Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said he is satisfied with the
contractor's performance. Not maintaining suitable health care puts the state
in greater legal liability, said Rep. Harvey Moss, D-Corinth, chairman of the
PEER committee when the report on inmate health care was released.
"We're trying to keep the inmate care up and keep the state out of
trouble from a lack-of-care standpoint," he said. A search of the
federal court system found more than a dozen open lawsuits filed by inmates
against MDOC on medical issues. A Clarion-Ledger analysis of inmate death
data found the number of prisoners dying increased in 2003 and reaching its
peak last year with 78 deaths. The system is projected to lose another 64
inmates this year, based on the rate of deaths. Mississippi is second only to
Tennessee in per-capita deaths among inmates, based on the latest national
data. Five years earlier, the state ranked 23rd and was at the national
average. "It alarms me very much," Barber said of the inmate death
rate. "We have to find out where this responsibility is falling between
the cracks."
January 14, 2008 Clarion Ledger
A health-care company contracting with the Mississippi Department of
Corrections has been lax about providing some inmates with timely medical
treatment among other problems, a legislative oversight group says. The Joint
Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review also
says the piecemeal contract with Wexford Health Services cost the state $1.1
million more than it would have for the same company's turnkey model. The
department is facing a shortfall of more than $19 million this year, some of
that for overspending in medical costs, and PEER is recommending the state
auditor investigate. But Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said the only
issue he's had with Wexford concerns the way the company keeps records. And,
he said, PEER's findings don't take into account the savings the department
has seen in medical costs throughout the years, despite the increasing number
of sick and aging inmates it is holding. Some lawmakers say they're prepared
to give the department a deficit appropriation. "I'm not trying to beat
up on PEER," Epps told The Clarion-Ledger. "All I'm saying is if
you don't deal with this stuff every day, you're not comparing apples to
apples." Issued to lawmakers last month, the PEER report reviews inmate
medical expenses in fiscal year 2007, which began July 1, 2006 - the same day
Wexford's contract with the state began. The Pittsburgh-based company
provides Corrections with only routine care, with the department handling
specialty services and care for inmates referred to hospitals. A turnkey
model was used previously in which another company provided services to all
state institutions except the private prisons the department contracts with. Epps
said the department switched from that model to keep costs down. "The
medical care at the department is better than I've ever seen it, and I've
been here 26 years," Epps said. But the PEER report said the current
agreement is costing the department $1.1 million more than it would with
Wexford's turnkey model, and the department spent $2.8 million more than its
appropriation in fiscal 2007. Spending more money isn't earning the state
better services either, the group says. The report indicates that during a
five-month review period in the same fiscal year, Wexford was short on staff,
and some employees without "proper credentials" provided medical
care to inmates. Also, PEER said many sick-call requests were not sorted by
priority within 24 hours after they were submitted, which could have delayed
treatment. Several deficiencies with the way medical records are stored were
cited in the report as well, including no separation between physical- and
mental-health records, which could affect the continuum of care. "These
are people who have violated laws, but we are still responsible for their
care and that's just the way it is," said Max Arinder,
PEER's executive director. "We need to get these things remedied, or it
could lead to some legal problems."
June 22, 2005 Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. - The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the St.
Louis-based health care provider for inmates at Mississippi's Parchman prison, alleging prisoners have been
misdiagnosed and received inadequate treatment. The federal
lawsuit against Correctional Medical Services, Inc., one of the nation's
largest for-profit medical providers for prisoners, was filed Wednesday on
behalf of 1,000 inmates at Parchman's Unit
32. Other defendants are Chris Epps, the commissioner of the
Mississippi Department of Corrections, deputy commissioner Emmitt Sparkman
and other agency officials. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in
Greenville. "We're hoping that the lawsuit is going to make a big
difference in conditions in Unit 32, which we really do think are so grossly
inhumane as to amount to torture," said Margaret Winter, associate
director of the National Prison Project of the ACLU.
June
22, 2005 ACLU National Prison Project
WASHINGTON, DC-Citing the extreme health risks faced by nearly 1000 men
confined in a Mississippi prison, the American Civil Liberties Union and the
law firm Holland & Knight today filed a lawsuit against one of the
country's largest for-profit medical providers for prisoners.
"Correctional Medical Services has a national reputation for providing
prisoners with grossly inadequate medical care," said Margaret Winter,
Associate Director of the ACLU's National Prison Project and lead attorney in
today's lawsuit. "We believe that
Correctional Medical Services' already poor reputation will sink even lower
when its treatment of Mississippi prisoners with life-threatening conditions
and serious mental illness is exposed to public view and judicial
scrutiny." Correctional Medical Services, Inc. (CMS), a for-profit
private corporation, currently holds contracts in 27 states, including
Mississippi. In April 2003, the state
of Mississippi contracted with CMS to provide medical, mental health and
dental care to prisoners incarcerated at the Mississippi State Penitentiary
at Parchman.
Today's complaint, filed on behalf of about 1000 men confined in Parchman's Unit 32, the prison's supermaximum
security unit, builds upon litigation brought in 2002 on behalf of death row
prisoners housed in the same unit.
Among other issues, it charges that officials with the Mississippi
Department of Corrections and CMS routinely deny prisoners access to humane
treatment. Jeffery Presley, 24, contracted a serious "staph"
infection while in Unit 32. A CMS
doctor initially misdiagnosed his condition as a spider bite.
Over several days, Presley's condition grew worse and he pleaded for
additional medical treatment. His
infected joint became grotesquely swollen and leaked blood. Ultimately, the doctor removed a section of
Presley's infected leg and prescribed Tylenol to dull his pain. In
another incident, a disturbed, deaf-mute prisoner was left for months in his
cell on the special needs psychiatric tier, without a mental health
evaluation or any attempt to communicate with him. His cell became filthy and he was allowed
to remain unwashed for weeks.
Correctional staff threw things at him to get his attention, and when
he threw things back, he was cited for rule violations. "Treating people suffering from mental
or physical illness with disrespect and indifference is abhorrent," said
Stephen F. Hanlon, a partner with Holland & Knight and co-counsel in the
case. "Correctional Medical Service's improper actions in Mississippi
and in other parts of the country violate the Constitution." The
Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure had disciplined and temporarily
restricted the medical licenses of at least three physicians at the Parchman prison.
The CMS medical director was cited for habitual drug use, and the
prison's chief psychiatrist was restricted because of a history of patient
sexual exploitation and sexual harassment.
Elsewhere, CMS has established a pattern of hiring doctors with
troubled backgrounds. According to a 1998 investigation by the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch, nine CMS doctors working in Missouri had been
disciplined by licensing boards. In Michigan, where the company
provides care to prisoners statewide and the ACLU has litigated issues
regarding inadequate medical care, CMS has come under scrutiny for its attempts
to save money by limiting prisoners' referrals
to outside medical specialists. A
federal court found that excessive delays in providing prisoners with
referrals contributed to three deaths during an 18-month period. Five other
prisoners who died during the same time period also experienced significant
delays in treatment. "CMS has a shameful record of jacking up corporate
profits by turning a blind eye to the urgent medical needs of sick
prisoners," said Winter. "I
am hopeful that today's lawsuit will make it impossible for this company to
keep on conducting 'business as usual' in Mississippi prisons."
Today's lawsuit, Presley v. Epps, was filed in U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Mississippi by attorneys Winter and Gouri
Bhat of the ACLU's National Prison Project, Hanlon and Cecily Baskir of Holland & Knight LLP, Mississippi civil
rights attorney Robert McDuff and Ranie Thompson of
the ACLU of Mississippi. To read today's complaint, go to: <http://www.aclu.org/Prisons/Prisons.cfm?ID=18558&c=26>.
To read about the ACLU's other work regarding Correctional Medical Services,
go to: <http://www.aclu.org/Prisons/Prisons.cfm?ID=18367&c=26>.
Mississippi
Legislature
February 6, 2011 Politico
Haley Barbour is often talked about as one the most powerful figures in the
GOP. And what journalists and operatives point to when making that case aren't
his deft political skills or stirring speech-making ability — it’s his
fundraising network. Over time, Barbour has built a loyal donor base eager to
bankroll each new endeavor — starting as political operative in the 1970's
through his second term as governor of Mississippi to his recent chairmanship
of the Republican Governors Association, and now as a possible presidential
contender. Continue Reading -- Although he trails well behind Newt Gingrich —
who collected over $14 million last year — Barbour's fundraising prowess is
nonetheless envied by Republican politicos – which makes him an ideal
candidate to begin a new POLITICO 2012 LIVE series dedicated to introducing
you to the world that makes up the GOP’s mega-donors — an elite network of
business executives, money managers and other wealthy powerbrokers who are
financing the early stages of the race for the White House. Haley, as he is
affectionately called in GOP circles, runs his operation out of Yazoo City,
Miss., an hour north of Jackson. His main fundraising tool is a political
action committee registered in Georgia – which has no limits on individual or
corporate donations. The PAC is chaired by Henry Barbour, Haley’s nephew and
a top-level Republican powerbroker in his own right — he was the key
behind-the-scenes player in getting Reince Priebus elected RNC chairman. In
just the last year, 147 people and corporations have given a total of
$523,174.52 to Barbour’s Georgia PAC — an average of more than $3,550. Nine
donors – two individuals and seven corporations — have given Barbour $295,000
over the last year through the Georgia PAC. If the PAC were federal, and
covered by FEC guidelines, the most nine donors could have given Barbour over
the last year is $45,000, as individual contributions are capped at the
national level. Only one of the nine donors contacted by POLITICO responded
to a request for interview. Frank Lee, the CEO of Tower Loan, said the
Mississippi-based consumer lender has “always been supportive of Haley.”
“Haley’s been a real godsend in terms of his ability and what he’s done for
the state,” Lee said. Lee acknowledged the company has interests before the
state Legislatures, but insisted that the contribution wasn't tied to any
specific issue at the time. A spokesman for the GEO Group, a private
corrections and detention management group that made a $13,000 contribution
to the Georgia PAC in 2009, told POLITICO in an e-mail that the company
wouldn’t comment on its relationship with Barbour. “Our company makes a
variety of contributions throughout the country, including to charitable
organizations, political organizations and candidates,” wrote Pablo E. Paez, the GEO Group’s vice president of corporate
relations. “As a matter of policy, our company cannot comment on specific
contributions.”
May 7, 2006 Clarion Ledger
As a direct consequence of "get-tough-on-crime" legislation
adopted over a decade ago, the private-prison industry and related companies have
become increasingly active as campaign contributors in Mississippi politics.
A new study conducted by the Institute for Money in State Politics documents
that Mississippi is one of 10 states where "industry giving is high and
the states had either enacted tough sentencing laws, turned to private prison
to help ease prison overcrowding in recent years or considered significant
changes to corrections policies." The report found that in 2002 and
2003, prison-industry contributors gave a total of $63,250 to 27 Mississippi
candidates and the state Democratic Party. Democrats got $28,850 of the
donations while Republicans got $31,900 over the two-year period. Major
recipients included current Republican Gov. Haley Barbour at $10,800,
Republican Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck at $10,500, state Rep. Tommy Reynolds, D-Water
Valley, at $10,000, and former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove at $7,500. A
half-dozen state legislators and one state Supreme Court candidate rounded
out the donation recipients, including state Rep. George Flaggs,
D-Vicksburg. Donors listed in the report included private prison companies
Wackenhut Corrections and its lobbyists at $21,250 and Corrections
Corporation of America and its lobbyists at $17,700. Another major donor
cited in the report was Carothers Construction, a Mississippi construction
company that has built or expanded six prison facilities in the state, two of
which were operated by CCA. In 1995, Mississippi lawmakers took an apparent
bold step toward getting tough on crime. But in doing so, the lawmakers also
dramatically increased the state's prison population and therefore the
operating costs of the state prison system. The Legislature adopted the
so-called "85 percent rule" which mandated that all state convicts
must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before being eligible for
parole. Mississippi's law was in sharp contrast to other states, where the 85
percent rule applied only to violent offenders. The rapid growth in the
state's prison population brought about by the "85 percent rule"
opened the doors for the private prison industry in the state. By 2002, there
were 2,600 empty state-owned prison beds while two private prisons were being
guaranteed an inmate population sufficient to keep them profitable. In 2001,
the Legislature voted near the end of the regular session to divert $6
million to pay for empty private prison bed space for so-called "ghost
inmates." Then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove vetoed the measure, but the
Legislature overrode that veto 40-12 in the Senate and 111-9 in the House.
Between 1998 and 2000, prison industry lobbyists spent $228,216 trying to
influence policy at the state Capitol. The report notes that when Barbour
released his Fiscal Year 2005 state budget in 2004, he put a priority on
using private prisons "to save money" in the state's prison system.
While the FY 2005 corrections budget was 4 percent less than in 2004, private
prison payments jumped more than 30 percent, the report shows. The first bill
Barbour signed into law after taking office as governor in 2004 was a bill to
keep the private-operated Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility open by
allowing it to house maximum security inmates.
February 11, 2006 Picayune Item
Maybe it's the deadline pressure. Maybe it's hunger or lack of sleep.
Maybe, just maybe, it's that lawmakers saw each other too often during last
year's record-setting five special sessions. Whatever the reason, it's crabby
season at the Mississippi Capitol. Nearly halfway into the three-month 2006
session, tempers are flaring and lawmakers are grating on each other's very
last nerves. That became clear this past week as the House and Senate plowed
through stacks of bills under a major deadline. An argument erupted on the
House floor Thursday night when Corrections Committee Chairman Bennett
Malone, D-Carthage, pushed to create a private prison in Bay Springs.
Prisoners there, he said, could earn time off their sentences by working in
private industries such as a chicken plant. That set off a torrent of
criticism from several black lawmakers, who likened the use of prison
laborers in a private industry to the use of slaves on plantations. They said
prisoners would have no real choice in going to work, and any private
business that starts using inmate labor would soon need a steady stream of
new prisoners to keep operating. “Let's not send a message to the rest of the
state that we are of this mind-set, that we still believe we should
incarcerate people just to get Bubba's chickens picked,” said Rep. Tyrone
Ellis, D-Starkville. Rep. Willie Bailey, D-Greenville, said the proposal
would “deprive and denigrate the people who cannot help themselves.” “This
man has an evil agenda here,” Bailey said, pointing toward Malone. Malone,
who is white, has lost his temper a few times during his quarter century in
the House, once punching a senator in a dispute about a chicken bill. He sat
quietly at the front of the chamber Thursday as others lambasted his inmate
labor proposal. Rep. Jim Evans, D-Jackson, said sending prisoners to work in
a private business would help a “corporate thug.” The bill died when the
House voted 72-45 to send it back to the Corrections Committee. About half
the votes to kill the bill came from white members.
May 26, 2005 Biloxi Sun Herald
Some House Democrats are outraged that Gov. Haley Barbour, on the very
day he forced them back to Jackson asking them to put aside partisanship and
pass a budget, appears to have been in Washington, using the state plane,
raising money they suspect will be used to try to oust them next election.
Barbour forced lawmakers to return in special session May 18. On that
morning, he held a $1,000- to $5,000-a-ticket fund-raiser breakfast for
"Haley's PAC" at the Willard Hotel in Washington. In an invitation
letter, Barbour said, "I hope we can help make sure that we grow
Republican numbers in the statehouses around the country and in
Congress." Gov. Haley Barbour has created a political action committee
called "Haley's PAC," to raise funds to "make sure that we
grow Republican numbers in the statehouses around the country and in
Congress." Records show the PAC last year raised nearly $400,000.
Records from a $1,000- to $5,000-per-ticket breakfast fund-raiser on May 18
are not yet available. Some of the contributions and expenditures of the PAC,
according to the latest state records from earlier this year, include:
$10,000 The GEO Group, Boca Raton, Fla.
December 23, 2004 Clarion Ledger
Counties in Mississippi are being reimbursed plenty for housing state
inmates in county jails, the state legislative watchdog committee said in an
analysis released Wednesday. "Right now there's no reason to change
those reimbursement rates," said Max K. Arinder,
executive director of the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance
Evaluation and Expenditure Review, or PEER. Although PEER's report shows
counties spend an average of $38 to house state inmates, the report concludes
the state's $20 reimbursement is plenty because inmate labor, which "can
exceed $20 per day per inmate, provides reasonable compensation to counties for
housing state prisoners." Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin called
PEER's conclusion "absolutely ridiculous," saying inmate labor
shouldn't be computed to figure costs and adding that he uses such inmates
mainly for community service. If cutting is the aim of state officials, they
should look first at private prisons, he said. "I don't know any of them
that charge less than $30 a day. If they can't compete with me, why should
they try to cut me?"
October 7, 2002
It will cost $1.6 million to turn a private prison into a county jail, state
officials say. The cost estimate was revealed by Gov. Ronnie Musgrove
last week, but Robert Moore, president of the Leflore County Board of
Supervisors, said the state has not made an offer to convert the Leflore County
prison. Musgrove said in July that the state would shut down Delta
Correctional Facility. He cited lack of funding due to his veto of the
corrections budget for private prisons. A state judge later ruled the
veto unconstitutional, and another lawsuit pending in federal court claims
the shutdown would overburden the state corrections system. However,
the Mississippi Department of Corrections has gone ahead with its plan.
The contract with CCA in Nashville no longer requires the state to keep a
certain number of prisoners in Delta Correctional. The final inmate is
scheduled to leave Oct.9. Only 135 inmates remained at Delta
Correctional on Monday, and 32 were scheduled to leave on Friday. Only
about 29 of the private prison's 200 employees remained. The prison
once held 850 inmates. (AP)
September 7, 2002
No money will be paid to private prisons if the legislature continues its
position not to consider legislation to fund them, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove
says. Both House Appropriations Committee Chairman Charlie Capps,
D-Cleveland, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jack Gordon,
D-Okolona, said it wasn't necessary to bring a bill before their committees
after a judge's ruling that Musgrove's partial veto of funding is
invalid. The governor, however, still maintains legislatures need to
pass a new $48.7 million appropriation for the private prisons. Lee Ann
Mayo, Musgrove's spokeswoman, said the funds are essentially frozen, and they
are not available until the Supreme Court rules. (Clarion Ledger)
August 24, 2002
The
Mississippi Department of Corrections could operate
prisons in Leflore and Marshall counties more cost effectively
than private companies, a new report says. The state's contract pays
$28.28 per inmate per day to each prison. In a report
released Friday, accounting firm Smith, Turner & Reeves of
Jackson verified an MDOC study of the relationship between
inmate population and spending. "I have consistently
stated that MDOC could operate these two facilities at
a lower cost to taxpayers than what is currently paid by
contract to the private prison operators," said Corrections
Commissioner Robert Johnson. The study was released
about the same time Gov. Ronnie Musgrove called a
Sept. 5 special session for legislators to deal with private
prison spending and other issues. The
timing was a coincidence, said MDOC spokesman Jennifer Griffin.
The MDOC study found
operating costs were lower than the contracted rates
for when prisons had inmate populations of 750 and 1,000. However, at a population of
850, the operating cost exceeded contracted rates.
Capacity at the two prisons is increased in blocks of 250
beds until they reach their 1,000-bed capacity, Griffin said.
Operation was more
expensive at 850 inmates because of maintenance and
staffing costs associated with opening a block of cells, Griffin
said. "The
contracts for the facilities call them to operate . . . 10
percent lower than the state's operating cost," she said.
"Based on these numbers, there is room for
discussion about whether that 10 percent rate is realized or not."
(AP)
August 2, 2002
Attorney General Mike Moore says he'll try to settle out of court a crisis in
the state's prison system that could revive a federal lawsuit and penalties
that go with it. But if it goes to court, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove does not
want the state's chief legal authority representing Mississippi. State
prisoners' rights attorney Ron Welch has filed a spate of motions in U.S.
District Court in Greenville, including one seeking to have Musgrove's April
veto of a $54.7 million private prison
appropriation declared invalid. "I certainly want a lawyer
representing me that agrees with my position," Musgrove said Thursday at
the Neshoba County Fair. (The Clarion Ledger)
July 23, 2002
Why are 2,600 state-owned prison beds empty while two state private prisons
are being guaranteed an inmate population sufficient to make them
profitable? And what role does $269,301 in
lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions to state elected
officials by the private prison industry play determining the state's
corrections policies? State legislative leaders say that private
prisons made an investment in the state at a time when in the early 1990s
when Mississippi was under federal court pressure to relieve massive
overcrowding in the system. Lawmakers say that those corporations now
should not be left holding the financial bag. But the state's top
corrections official says that the state should not "subsidize"
private prisons at a time when there is an estimated Department of
Corrections budget deficit of $$19.2 million. Currently there are
843 state prisoners housed at $28.29 per inmate per day in the Delta
Correctional Facility at Greenwood-- owned by Corrections Corporation of America
(CCA). There are 871 state prisoners housed at $28.28 per inmate per
day in the private Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs--
owned by Wackenhut Corporation. Some 2,600 state-owned prison beds
currently are empty. Johnson said that the legislative claims that the
private prison companies came into the state at a time when the sates needed
more prison beds and that they should be protected is
"baloney." "Those companies came into Mississippi
because they saw an opportunity to make a profit," said Johnson.
CCA, Wackenhut and other private prison companies had made a total of $41,000
to lawmakers during the 1999 statewide elections. The National
Institute on Money in State Politics described the situation as "a major
shift in prison-privatization policy." "No longer were
advocates in Mississippi arguing over how much money privatization would save
taxpayers," an institute report said. "Instead they argued
that taxpayer subsidies were necessary in hard economic times to keep
existing prison jobs. The fact these subsidies would ensure corporate
profits went unspoken. In a scathing April 2002, report by the
institute entitled "A Contributing Influence: The Private Prison
Industry and Political Giving in the South," lobbying the political
giving were linked to the following Mississippi political figures.
*Musgrove received $7,300 in private prison industry campaign contributions,
including $4,750 from Carothers Construction, a prison builder,.
Failed GOP gubernatorial nominee Mike parker also received $5,250 from
private prison donors. *Attorney General Mike Moore, who backed the
Legislature's override of Musgrove's "ghost inmate" veto, received
$5,000 in private prison industry contributions, including $1,000 from
Wackenhut. *Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Gordon,
D-Okolona, received $1,000 from CCA lobbyist Buddy Medlin in 2001. The
report stated that Gordon and State Sen. Bunky Huggins, R-Greenwood-- in
whose district Wackenhut's Delta Correctional Facility is located--met with
private prison officials the night before the "ghost inmate"
appropriation override: "Senators Jack Gordon and Bunky Huggins
had dinner with Wackenhut executive Wayne Calabrese and Wackenhut lobbyist Al
Sage at the Parker House restaraunt the evening
before the override vote," the report said. Records in the
secretary of state's office also show that in 2001 Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck and
House Speaker Tim Ford were recipients of $1,000 and $1,100 respectively in
donations from the state's private prison corporations or their
lobbyist. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Minor, D-Holly
Springs- also a Senate Corrections Committee member-received a $500 donation
from Wackenhut in 1999. Wackenhut's Marshall County Correctional
Facility is located in Minor's district. Additional state records show
that CCA has paid lobbyist Buddy Medlin a total of $138,126 to represent its
interests since 1998. Those same records reflect that Wackenhut had
paid lobbyist Al Sage $90,000 to represent its interests since 1998.
(Clarion Ledger)
July 9, 2002
Mississippi
officials need to preserve vocational and education programs for
inmates asthey renegotiate private prison
contracts, a lawmaker says. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is
holding closed-door negotiations with three companies
that operate five private prisons in Mississippi. The governor
said discussions will conclude sometime this month and he expects
to save the state $6 million to $12 million a year. Negotiations began after
the Mississippi Department of Corrections sent letters saying
that as of July 1, the first day of the budget year, state
lacked the money to pay for private prison operations. Provisions of the private
prison contracts say Mississippi can break the contracts if
there's no money available. At the end of the legislative session
in April, Musgrove vetoed $54.7 million for private
prisons. Attorney
General Mike Moore said last week he still believes the veto was
invalid. Moore
said prison companies had called his office to complain. "Some of these
(corporate) people said, 'If they think they're going to hold us
up, they've got another thing coming,' " Moore said. "This is a show. This
is politics." (Clarion Ledger)
July 7, 2002
Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove says he can save the state $6 million to $12 million
by renegotiating contracts with private prison contracts. He also said he'll call
lawmakers into special session this summer to approve a new,
smaller budget for the five private facilities. "I firmly believe that
it is wrong to inflate the budget for private prisons,
especially during a national recession," Musgrove said in an interview
Tuesday. "These funds will better serve the people of Mississippi if
we use them to educate and protect our children and provide health care
for our people." (Common Wealth)
July 3, 2002
Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove said Tuesday that renegotiating private prison
contracts would save Mississippi taxpayers between $6 million
and $12 million in 2003. Musgrove defended notices sent
out Friday notifying five private prisons that their
contracts were being terminated. He called the overfunding of private
prisons by the Legislature "unconscionable." The Legislature
appropriated $54.7 million for private prisons, which includes
money to pay off construction debt. "We hope to negotiate
new contracts by the end of the month," said Musgrove,
who described private prison officials as receptive. "I will include it in
a special session I plan to call," Musgrove said. Private prison executives
leaving the meeting at 3 p.m. Tuesday refused to comment.
But Louise Green, a
spokeswoman for Corrections Corp. of America in Nashville
that runs Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood and Wilkinson
County Correctional Facility, looks forward to more negotiations.
(Clarion Ledger)
July 2, 2002
The
state says it doesn't have the money to pay private companies to
run prisons and is terminating management contracts at five
facilities. In letters sent to the prisons Friday,
the Mississippi Department of Corrections said Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove on April 9 vetoed a $54.7 million appropriation,
part of a larger bill, for the private prisons. The contracts between MDOC
and the management companies say the state has the
right to terminate the agreements without penalty if funds are not
appropriated.
But
Attorney General Mike Moore said governor's partial veto is
meaningless because he never had the power to issue it, and the
money is still there. He called the reasoning behind the
attempt to take over management of the prisons
"bogus." Musgrove said he issued the veto —
which the Legislature never moved to override —
because language in the appropriations bill prevented Corrections
Commissioner Robert Johnson from moving money to other areas
of the budget.
MDOC
spokeswomen Jennifer Griffin said MDOC staff had been planning
all day how to take over operation of the private prisons, but
MDOC will not do so until after Musgrove finishes talks
with private officials. And in 2001, legislators appropriated
$6 million more than was needed for private prisons,
overriding Musgrove's veto. A subsequent report by a legislative
watchdog lowered the number of prisoners that
private and regional prisons need to break even, leading many to
say the state would otherwise pay for "ghost inmates."
(Clarion Ledger)
June 24, 2002
Delta
Correctional Facility has given Cassandra Swims' family
a brighter future. But dark days may be ahead for Delta
and other privately run prisons where inmate
numbers have declined and some jobs have already been eliminated.
Corrections Commissioner
Robert Johnson says construction of too many beds for
medium-security male inmates and a trend toward less jail time
for first-time, nonviolent offenders may mean further reductions
or a possible state takeover of private prisons.
Too few inmates to fill beds also cut into the profits for
companies in the prison business in Mississippi. "Private prisons were
not promised a certain number of inmates," said Johnson,
who says an MDOC study shows the state can run Marshall
County Correctional Facility, another private prison, for less
than Wackenhut Corrections. "It was a business decision,
and like any business, conditions change."
Steve Owen, spokesman for
Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America, which
runs Delta, is surprised at Johnson's comments. ""It was also an
opportunity for the company," Owen said. "What the
state does now is a policy decision for the Correction Department
and state legislators." Not everyone, however, has welcomed
private prisons as an answer to economic woes.
Hollandale Mayor Robert
Burford thanks Gov. Ronnie Musgrove for last year's veto
of a bill that would have put a private prison the state's
sixth, in his town. "Most people didn't want it
here," said Burford, although his predecessor, Mayor
Oscar Peace Jr., pushed for the prison in Washington County,
where unemployment
was 12.7 percent in April. "We need jobs here, but our
feeling is that if we get a prison, it might prevent other
businesses or industries from coming." Delta's per diem, which
began at $25.13 in 1996, will remain at $28.29 for another
year. "It has really created a bad situation for us,"
said Delta's assistant warden, Phillip McLaurin. "We are
trying to cut costs without depriving inmates of their essentials
and programs. (Clarion Ledger)
June 23, 2002
Millions
of dollars cut from public schools. Too few social workers
struggling to keep up with hundreds of cases of abused
and neglected children. And Medicaid services reduced.
Lawmakers also plowed $9
million more into the private prison budget than the state
Department of Corrections estimated was needed for 3,400
prisoners for fiscal 2003. In all, the Legislature is paying
$54.7 million to put inmates in private prisons and
$21.1 million to put them in regional jails — while 2,621 state-owned
beds remain empty. Why? Communities where the 11
regional jails and five private prisons have sprung
up regard the facilities as economic development to counteract
high unemployment.
Contractual
obligations. The state is bound by 20-year contracts with 3
percent annual increases for private prisons and regional
jails. Private prison companies are
contributing money to lawmakers' campaigns. During the
1999 elections 37 politicians split $41,085 from
Corrections Corporation of America, Wackenhut Corrections,
Carothers Construction and other prison industry sources, according
to a nonpartisan, nonprofit institute that compiles campaign
contribution information on a national level. Politics. The corrections commissioner
is battling lawmakers for control of the prison
system, saying he can spend more efficiently with less restrictions.
So far, he's losing the fight. The combined result of those factors is
money being poured into the state's corrections
system — which Attorney General Mike Moore, an architect of the
private prison-regional jail plan, said amounts to funding
society's failures at the expense of other needs, such as
education.
Vincent
Schiraldi, president of the Justice Policy Institute in Washington,
D.C., has another description for it: astounding. "It is astounding that
during such a time of fiscal crisis, the Legislature could be
that careless with that much money," Schiraldi said of the
$9 million in the private prison budget. "The trend nationally
is that as crime decreases and the economy is down,
private prisons are being closed." Gov. Musgrove would agree.
"The state does not have an obligation to be a charity
for private prisons," he said. Sen.
Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, Corrections Committee
vice chairman and a Senate Appropriations Committee member,
fears safety may be compromised by overfunding
private prisons. (Clarion Ledger)
May 20, 2002
Funding going to private prisons in Mississppi
should be diverted into less costly, more effective rehabilitation programs,
according to a study examining how much Mississippi spends on prisons vs.
education. "This will free up taxpayer dollars for education and
prevention programs that have been shown to deter individuals from committing
criminal acts," states the report by a Charlotte, N.C-based
nonprofit group. The report, "Education v. Incarceration: A
Mississippi Cases Study," is scheduled to be released today at a 1:30
p.m. news conference at the Capitol. The study by the Grassroots
Leadership is one of the many examining Southern states and their policies on
spending taxpayer dollars for corrections and education. (Mississippi News)
April 10, 2002
Legislators
are gearing up to override more vetoes when they return to the Capitol
on Friday.
Besides
handling Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's vetoes of two Medicaid bills, leading
lawmakers say they expect to try to overturn his partial vetoes of
Department of Corrections and Department of Human
Services budgets. Musgrove said he objects to protection
for private prisons in the MDOC bill and to money set aside for
the YMCA in the welfare agency's budget. The governor said it was
wrong for lawmakers to bar the transfer of money away from the
$54.7 million allocated for private prisons. He wanted Corrections
Commissioner Robert Johnson to have flexibility to move money from
any category of the prisons' budget into any other category. "Once again, the
special interests and special friends of the private prison industry
won the day, funding fully private prisons and at a higher level than
our state and regional facilities," Musgrove wrote in his veto message
for part of the MDOC bill. At the end of the 2001
legislative session, Musgrove and Johnson clashed with lawmakers
over the funding of private prisons. Musgrove and Johnson said too much
money was going to the private facilities, at the expense of other state
needs such as education. Musgrove vetoed dozens of spending
bills in the 2001 session, and lawmakers ended the session by
overriding all the vetoes. In his corrections veto message
Tuesday, Musgrove wrote: "Robert Johnson and I work for the
taxpayers of Mississippi and not high paid executives of out-of-state
prison corporations. Private prison beds are the most expensive in
our system and this appropriation and its related proviso work against our
ability to be good stewards for hard working
Mississippians." (AP)
February 21, 2002
Remember Pete Johnson? The guy with the old Mississippi
political name who was elected state
auditor back in the 1980s? Ran for governor on the GOP ticket
in 1991 and bombed? However,
that's only part of the seemingly unending saga of mercurial Patrick
"Pete" Johnson, who has traded for years in the state's
political arena on the Johnson name -- his uncle,
Gov. Paul B. Johnson Jr. and grandfather, Gov. Paul B.
Johnson Sr. -- to advance his own political agenda. What brings Pete Johnson back on the
public's radar screen now is his sideline as the unlikely owner
of a private prison company, which, in a smelly political
deal in 1994 dumped a dilapidated old motel at Flowood on the State
Department of Corrections to house female probationers. Some
of that side of the Pete Johnson story was unfolded a week ago in a Rankin
County Chancery courtroom, where Johnson is being sued for $2 million by
his ex-partner in Corrections Systems of Mississippi, the outfit of
which Johnson is president. The ex-partner, William
O. "Buddy" Jenkins, a well-known Rankin Realtor and
contractor who was a one-third owner of the prison company, contends
in the suit Johnson not only cut him out without
payment, but also unloaded on him a heap of costs
to renovate the old motel. But here's
the saddest part of the story for Mississippi
taxpayers: We are paying Johnson
$21,000 per month lease money for the unsightly motel -- and will
be until March 2005 -- under the contract Johnson wangled from the
Corrections Department back in the Fordice
administration. "A sweetheart deal," is how present Corrections
Commissioner Robert Johnson describes the motel
lease contract. And he can't do anything about it.
Every month the state has to fork out $20,987.50 in lease money to
Corrections Systems of Mississippi for DOC to house an average of 130 non-violent
female probationers at what once was the Airways Inn on U.S. 80 in
Flowood. Since Pete Johnson is the only signatory on the lease, the
lease money goes to him. Worse,
under terms of the contract, after the rental period ends in March 2005,
the state will own it. Most assuredly it will have to be torn down and replaced
with a decent facility. How Pete
Johnson even got his hands on the abandoned Airways Motel is questionable.
The property was inherited by Hinds
Community College from a donor
and put up for bids in December 1993. Johnson made a high bid, but the
sale was not consummated until after Lucas gave the
lease contract to Johnson's private prison outfit
on May 20, 1994
. Johnson, a banker and
licensed attorney before becoming state auditor in 1987, knew
nothing about prisons before chartering Correction Systems of Mississippi
on May 4, 1994
. Remarkably, 16 days later he secured the juicy private
prison contract from the state without making a public bid. (The Sun
Herald)
September 14, 2001
Legislators didn't like comments Gov. Ronnie Musgrove made earlier in the
year when he criticized them for putting more money into prisons than
education. On Thursday, they unleashed their anger at state Department
of Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson when he appeared before them to talk
about his budget request for the new year beginning July 1, 2002. Lawmakers
say they passed legislation requiring 230 inmates at 10 regional prisons and
900 inmates at two private facilities because Johnson asked for them
initially, but MDOC revised those numbers downward before the session
ended. Johnson, who told the committee he has a problem with looking at
inmates as economic development, was only minutes into his presentation when
Senate Finance Chairman Bill Minor took issue with Johnson saying inmates can
be housed cheaper at state facilities than at regional and private
prisons. Minor argued the same PEER report showed just the opposite.
Johnson said he read the same report, and it didn't support that.
"You must have not known how to read," Minor said. "Yes
sir, I do. I read very well," Johnson responded. (The
Clarion-Ledger)
June 27, 2001
An ex-lawmaker and a former prison official are collecting hundreds of
thousands of dollars in contracts with regional lockups in Mississippi.
The former legislator, Rolling Fork attorney Charles Weissinger,
has contracts with five county-owned regional prisons that total more than
$300, 000, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal newspaper in Tupelo
reported Wednesday. Contracts for attorneys and consultants are
negotiated by county officials where the regional prisons are located.
One of the consultants is Edward Hargett, a former warden at the Mississippi
State Penitentiary at Parchman, who worked 25 years
in corrections. Hargett said the taxpayers "are getting a deal
with the regional prisons. They are getting all the program services
provided at far less cost than at the private prisons and state
facilities." Weissinger, who served in
the Mississippi House from 1988-92, has contracts with regional prisons in
Bolivar, Issaquena, Stone, Jefferson-Franklin and Holmes-Humphreys
counties. Hargett has contracts with those five prisons, plus the newly
opened facility in Kemper-Neshoba counties. (AP)
June 22, 2001
Employees at three privately run prisons in Mississippi have sued their
Tennessee-based employer for failing to pay overtime. The prisons are
located in Woodville, Greenwood and Tallahatchie County. Corrections
Corporation of America, based Nashville, Tenn., owns and operates the prisons.
The lawsuits, which represent one side of a legal argument, allege CCA
required employees to attend meetings off the clock and prohibited workers
from clocking out on days when they worked more than eight hours. The
suits ask for back overtime pay and damages on behalf of all current and
former CCA employees. (AP)
June 15, 2001
A legislative report released Thursday shows the Mississippi Department of
Corrections does not need to remove inmates from sheriff's work programs,
Attorney General Mike Moore said. "Common sense has won the
day," said Sheriff George H. Payne, Jr. "The winners are the
taxpayers of Harrison County." Payne and other sheriffs have been
at odds with lawmakers over their decision to guarantee higher numbers of
inmates at private and regional prisons. Officials at those prisons
said they need more inmates to break even on housing costs. The report
shows that the private at Holly Springs in Marshall County and at Greenwood
in Leflore County need about $28 per day to house an inmate, instead of $36
per day. The private prisons, instead of needing at least 900 each,
require 843 beds in Leflore County and 871 in Marshall County. The
state has to pay for the beds even if they are empty. Lawmakers set the
guarantees last year after learning that prison population had dwindled,
giving the state more prison beds than prisoners. (The Sun Herald)
June 12, 2001
Some Mississippi sheriffs say they don't know how they'll cope if the
Corrections Department follows through on a proposal to remove 500 state
inmates from county work programs. Corrections Commissioner Robert
Johnson on Monday said he's considering the shuffle because legislators told
his department it must increase the number of inmates it keeps in regional
jails and private prisons. On the Coast, Harrison County stands to lose
the most state inmates, with 46 of 72 slated to be moved. the inmates
pick up litter on the highways and beach, work on public vehicles, help with
public events and perform other chores. Hancock County Sheriff Steve
Garber is not happy about the possibility of losing six of 10 state prisoners
in the county's work program. Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie uses state inmates to cook jail meals and pick up
roadside litter. He said taking away the free labor could hurt his
county. "It appears there's a big political fight in Jackson and
the citizens of the state of Mississippi are the ones that's going to be
impacted," Sollie said Monday. A dispute
over the placement of inmates erupted in March, during the final days of the
2001 legislative session. Lawmakers wanted to increase the number of
state inmates going to 10 regional jails and privately run prisons in
Marshall County and Leflore County. The private prisons and regional
jails have provided jobs in many legislators' districts in recent
years. Johnson said it's cheaper to keep inmates in state prisons or
county jails than in private prisons or regional jails. He also said
the state could end up with "ghost inmates" by paying private or
regional facilities for unfilled beds. Lawmakers mandated the increases
to regional jails and private prisons over the objections of Johnson and Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove. In his letter to sheriffs, Johnson quoted a March 28
letter Attorney General Mike Moore had sent him. "It makes no
financial sense to pay $20 a day to house these inmates in county jails and
also pay for 'ghost inmates' at a much higher rate for no service at all,
" Moore had written to Johnson. (AP)
April 5, 2001
Corrections officials will be asking sheriffs how many inmates they're
willing to give up to fill regional jails and two private prisons. The
Legislature expanded the number of inmates that will go into those prisons
over the veto of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. "I want to see from the
sheriffs how many (inmates) they actually have that they need to move,"
Musgrove said Wednesday. The Department of Corrections budget bill
increased the state's financial obligation to regional jails and privately
run prisons starting July 1. Meeting the obligation will require either
shuffling of some the 1,500 state inmates that are now in local jails or
paying for what MDOC Commissioner Robert Johnson calls "ghost"
inmates in unfilled beds at the private prisons and regional jails.
"You are paying $20 a day to house a prisoner in an approval jail and
you're going to move that prisoner to a private facility that costs you
somewhere between $24 and $30 a day, " the governor told
reporters. "Now, my simple math tells me that is not saving money."
(AP)
March 30, 2001
Mississippi legislators swiftly overrode Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's vetoes of
dozens of spending bills, then headed home to end their three-month
session. The House voted 111-9 to override vetoes of the Mississippi
Department of Corrections funding bill. (The Clarion Ledger)
March 27 , 2001
Taxpayers would have to pay about $6 million a year to private and regional
prison for "ghost inmates" under bill the Legislature approved
Monday, the state's corrections commissioner said. The Mississippi department
of Corrections funding bill includes a provision to subsidize the regional
and private facilities, despite the absence of need. The state doesn't have
the inmates to fulfill the obligations under the bill, Corrections
Commissioner Robert Johnson said. Taxpayers would have to pay about $2
million a year to private prisoners and $4 million to regional prisoners for these :ghost inmates," he said. "I guess that's
where the old saying 'politics make strange bedfellows' comes from. Anytime
you find a group of Mississippi legislators agreeing to guarantee a private
enterprise a profit with taxpayers' money, you
know there's got to be strange happenings," Johnson said. State
prisoners have about 2,600 empty beds. (The Clarion-Ledger)
Mississippi Welcome Center, I-10
Guard Rite Services
September 1, 2006 Sun Herald
The search ended has ended for a prisoner who escaped from the custody of
a private prison transport service that had stopped at the Mississippi
Welcome Center on its way to Texas from Indiana earlier in the week. Kevin
Alva, 49, escaped custody after the private transport service group made a
stop at the Mississippi Welcome Center on Interstate 10 just past the
Mississippi-Alabama state line Monday. At the time of his escape, he was
being extradited from Indiana to Texas, where he was facing a state parole
violation and expected to be sentenced to prison time because of a recent
armed robbery conviction.
Natchez-Adams County, Mississippi
CCA/GEO
March 9, 2007 The Natchez Democrat
A petition has been started asking for a vote on potential federal
correctional facilities locating in Adams County. Robert Palmer, captain of
the Cranfield neighborhood watch, said he and other members have drawn up a
petition and started circulating it Friday morning. “Some of the members and
I live out here, and someone has to be the initial start-up person,” Palmer
said. “I think before we just put something in an area, everybody should have
the right to vote for or against it.” One of the two private prison
companies, CCA, is looking at locating a minimum to medium security facility
in northeast Adams County, and the other, GEO, is looking at a lot at the
Natchez-Adams County Airport. Representatives from both companies said it’s
likely only one will end up locating in Adams County. The petition is not for
or against either prison. It simply requests the proposal to locate and build
federal prisons in the county be brought to a public vote. Palmer said he
thought most people would sign the petition, whether a resident was for or
against the facilities. By state law, residents of a county have a right to
bring before the board of supervisors a petition with either 1,500 signatures
or signatures from 20 percent of the population, whichever is less. If the
petition meets the minimum number of required signatures, the county must
hold an election to decide whether or not to accept the prison. The deadline
to submit the petition — April 24 — is fast approaching, Palmer said. “It’s
getting real close,” Palmer said. “We’re hoping to (get enough signatures).
If we can get word out to the public that the petitions are out there to
sign, I think we can.” If the petition gets enough signatures and the issue
comes to a vote, the topic could be voted on either in the scheduled
elections in August and November, or the county could hold a special
election. Supervisor President Darryl Grennell said
he thought the decision would be up to the board. A special election would be
quicker but would cost extra county money, he said. If it came to a vote, it
might mean at least one company would look elsewhere to locate a new
facility, Grennell said. Both companies, but
especially CCA, have expressed interest in working quickly in order to take
advantage of GO Zone opportunities and be ready for potential government
contracts. “If this thing gets on the ballot, it will delay it tremendously,
and CCA will probably end up looking at another county,” he said. He said he
hadn’t heard one way or the other from GEO on the subject.
March 2, 2007 The Natchez Democrat
Representatives from the city and county governments met privately in
December to discuss the prospect of a correctional facility locating in the
county. Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority Jeff Rowell said
the EDA called the meeting to inform officials about the details of the
potential prisons. “It was to let everybody know what’s going on,” Rowell
said Thursday. No public notice of the meeting was given. Two of the largest
correctional facility companies in the nation are interested in locating a
federal prison in Adams County, one on private land and one at the
Natchez-Adams Airport. A public hearing on the two companies was recently
held at a supervisors meeting. Officials from one company, GEO, which wants
to locate at the airport, spoke to those attending. The other company, CCA,
was not represented. EDA Chairman Woody Allen said it was an informal meeting
bringing in prison representatives to explain the situation. “There was no
plan for a vote,” Allen said. “It was strictly to let them know what the
different levels of the prison would be.” Adams County Supervisors President
Darryl Grennell said he asked the EDA to call the
meeting. “It was to more or less get support for the prison (from city
officials),” Grennell said, adding that he talked
with Gov. Haley Barbour before Christmas and discussed a potential prison in
Adams County. “He suggested a methodology of selling the prison to the county
residents. It was the same method he used in order to get three facilities in
Yazoo County.” That method, Grennell said, was to
first meet with city and county elected officials to educate them about the
facility, location and number of jobs it would provide. The next step was to
talk to community leaders, such as those from businesses and churches. They,
in turn, would have answers when residents came to them with questions about
the prisons. “That way you can have a trickle-down effect of selling the
concept of a prison to Natchez-Adams County,” Grennell
said. “Once you do that, you have a public hearing for the residents to come
and learn about the facility.” It didn’t quite work out that way, though, Grennell said. News of the facilities got out before
officials had a chance to talk with community leaders. “At that point, we
never got a chance to meet with community and business leaders,” he said. “It
was already public knowledge.”
Oxford, Mississippi
TransCor
December 1, 2004 Daily Mississippian
An employee has been fired and equipment has been adjusted following an
investigation into how a prisoner escaped in Oxford in October. David Randal
Moser, 25, was being transported by TransCor, a
private transportation company, from Florida to Ohio to face rape charges
when he escaped in Oxford on Oct. 24. An investigation into how he escaped
resulted into security equipment adjustments and the termination of one
employee, said Ashley Nimmo, director of marketing communications for TransCor. “We looked at equipment and made some
adjustments,” Nimmo said. “One employee has been released due to violation of
company policy.” Nimmo said she could not comment further on the equipment or
the employee. TransCor
also paid the Oxford Police Department for the overtime their officers put in
to look for the prisoner.
October 28, 2004 Daily Mississippian
Escaped prisoner David Randal Moser lived in trees near Jackson Avenue
for over 58 hours as he evaded police after his escape Sunday. Moser,
25, who was arrested around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Moser, who has been charged in
Ohio with rape and sexual misconduct with a minor, escaped on foot from a
private transport at Wendy’s at approximately 12:45 p.m. Sunday.
October 26, 2004 Daily Mississippian
Although police still search in Oxford for escaped prisoner David Randal
Moser, they do not know whether he is in or out of Lafayette County. Moser,
25, who has been charged in Ohio with sexual conduct with a minor, escaped on
foot from a private transport at Wendy’s at approximately 2 p.m. Sunday.
Stephanie Castle, a relative of the family that brought the charges against
Moser, called The Daily Mississippian to request an update about Moser’s
whereabouts. Castle said she is upset that Moser was allowed to escape. “I
can’t believe these extradition people have a Web site saying they are high
security,” Castle said. “Where were the people when he did it (escaped)? I
don’t get this at all. It just makes me irate.” Moser
was being transported by TransCor, a private
prisoner transportation company, from Florida to Ohio when he escaped.
October 25, 2004 Daily Mississippian
Police searched for an escaped prisoner on campus and across Oxford Sunday
afternoon through the early morning hours. As of 1:30 a.m., the search was to
no avail. David Randal Moser, 25, escaped on foot from a private transport at
Wendy’s on Jackson Avenue at approximately 2 p.m. Sunday, a flier said. Moser,
who was in custody for charges of sexual conduct with a minor, was being
transported by Transcor from Florida to Richland
County Jail in Mansfield, Ohio.
Pike County, Mississippi
CCA, Cornell
April 18, 2007 The Natchez Democrat
By voting against a prison coming to their county, Pike County residents
gave Adams County a huge advantage, local officials said Tuesday. Pike County
voted not to allow Corrections Corporation of America, the country’s largest
private corrections company, to locate a facility there. The unofficial
results were 3,854 against the prison and 2,721 in favor of it. That is a
huge plus for Adams County’s chances of getting a CCA prison, Adams County
Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said Tuesday.
“That is good news for Adams County. There’s a much greater chance of it
being in Adams County, now,” Grennell said. “I know
it’s going to be in Adams County. That’s like a 100 percent guarantee it’s
going to be here.” CCA is one of two prison companies vying for a federal
contract and looking to locate in Adams County. CCA has announced it was
looking to pick a location among Pike, Walthall and Adams counties. Now that
Pike County is out of the running, and Walthall County is not as far along in
the selection process, Adams County looks like the place, Natchez-Adams
County Economic Development Authority Chair Woody Allen said. “It just puts
us in a very positive light going forward with regard to being one of the top
sites,” Allen said. CCA spokesman Steve Owen said he thought the results were
very positive for Adams County. “This is more about Pike County than about
CCA,” Owen said. “Pike County is removing themselves from consideration. It
means we have to shift our focus to the other two counties in Mississippi
wanting to be considered.” Supervisor Sammy Cauthen said he was interested in
the jobs a potential prison would bring to the county. “We need the jobs, and
we need the ad valorem taxes off the $90 million project,” Cauthen said.
“Businesspeople in town need the business that would come along with the
prison.” Supervisor Henry Watts said he was pleased Pike County voted against
the prison. “It obviously heightens our chances of getting the prison here,”
Watts said. “The prison proposal makes the most economic sense. It is the
best industrial proposal I have seen that made economic sense since I’ve been
on the board of supervisors.” Supervisor Thomas “Boo” Campbell said he
thought a prison in Adams County was a sure thing. “I think there’s not much
to stop it for Adams County,” Campbell said. “We need the jobs. There will
always be skeptics, and there will always be pros and cons. The reality is,
we need the jobs, and I welcome it.” Supervisor S.E. “Spanky”
Felter said he thought the Pike County vote would
definitely mean a prison in Adams County. “I’m sure they’re coming here,” he
said. “I’m sure they’re going to try.” But Felter
said he wanted the residents of Adams County to be able to decide that issue.
“I want the people to have a chance to vote on it,” Felter
said. “If they want it, it’s fine with me.” Residents might get that chance.
Mississippi law states that if residents of a county get 1,500 signatures on
a petition asking for a vote on a private prison, the county has to hold a
vote. Some have recently said that because of timing — CCA wants to take
advantage of the GO Zone incentives — a vote would ruin Adams County’s
chances of getting the prison. Robert Palmer is one of those spearheading a
petition in Adams County to bring the issue to a vote. And while the petition
is not for or against the prison, only asking for a vote, Palmer said he is
not in favor of having a private federal prison in the county. “We just feel
if this thing comes, these people who are promoting it are going to see the day
they regret bringing it in,” Palmer said. “It’s not if we have a problem
there, it’s when.”
January 2, 2007 Clarion Ledger
Pike County officials will host what is being called an
"informational session" today in Magnolia on a proposed prison to
be run by Corrections Corporation of America. Magnolia Mayor Jim Storer and
Pike County Economic Development District Executive Director Britt Herrin
will host the meeting. Storer said no one from CCA will be present. CCA wants
to build a 1,500-inmate prison in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park. Storer said
he hopes to have CCA officials at future sessions. "I decided that the
citizens of Magnolia and anybody else around that might want to learn more
about that, that this might be an opportunity for them to come and present
their questions," Storer said. Storer said he hopes mayors in other
towns in Pike County will hold similar sessions for residents. Meanwhile, an
organization opposed to the prison has asked county supervisors for copies of
all records pertaining to the project. Supervisors this past week received a
letter from Gail Tyree of Grassroots Leadership requesting copies of
"correspondence, meeting notes and cell phone records in regards to the
prison proposal." Tyree also requested "executive session
notes" from January 2005 to Dec. 18, 2006. Board of supervisors
attorney Wayne Dowdy said he will respond to Tyree's request.
December 22, 2006 AP
Pike County supervisors will run public notices about a proposed private
prison in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park. The notice is required by law.
Board of supervisors attorney Wayne Dowdy said this week that the notice, to
be published in a local newspaper, will specify the location of the prison,
type of inmates that will occupy it and the name of the company - Corrections
Corp. of America - that wants to run it. If 1,500 voters sign petitions
opposing the prison, supervisors must hold an election on the issue, Dowdy
said. Nashville, Tenn.-based CCA plans a 1,500-inmate facility, costing about
$80 million. It would be located on 85 acres in the industrial park. CCA has
three prisons in Mississippi. Wilkinson County Correctional Facility at
Woodville opened in 1998, Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility at
Tutwiler in 2000 and Delta Correctional Facility at Greenwood in 2004,
according to the CCA. Pike County Economic Development District Executive
Director Britt Herrin has said the proposed prison will have a low profile at
its location in the industrial park on the southeast side of the McComb-Pike County Airport. He said the site will have a
perimeter of trees and other vegetation. "We want it to blend into the
area and have a more peaceful, serene look than just concrete buildings,
fences and razor wire," Herrin said. CCA's Brad Wiggins has said that
the outdoor lighting system at the prison will be focused on the ground and
should not light up the night sky dramatically.
December 18, 2006 Enterprise-Journal
Pike County residents will get an opportunity to vote on a proposed
prison if at least 1,500 voters sign petitions requesting a referendum,
according to statute. Board of supervisors attorney
Wayne Dowdy said he found a state law Friday requiring public notice and a
potential referendum on a private prison. He will meet with supervisors at 9
a.m. Wednesday to discuss the matter. “On Wednesday they should pass a
resolution indicating that since an option to purchase has been granted to
Corrections Corp. of America on 89 acres, more or less, the public will be
notified as required by a statute, and the public will have 60 days within
which to file objections to the construction of the facility,” Dowdy said
this morning. “If a sufficient number of objections are received, an election
will be called on the matter. It will be determined by majority vote.”
December 18, 2006 AP
Pike County officials have canceled a public hearing on a proposed prison,
saying there is broad community support for the project. Nashville-based
Corrections Corporation of America wants to build the 1,500-inmate facility
in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park east of the county airport. The prison
would cost $80 million and provide 300 jobs, CCA has said. The company has an
option on 85 acres in the industrial park. Pike County Economic District
Executive Director Britt Herrin said Friday that Corrections Corp. of America
officials have already met with opponents of the prison, so there's no reason
for a public hearing.
December 4, 2006 AP
Pike County supervisors have canceled a public hearing that had been
scheduled for Dec. 14 on a proposal to locate a private prison in the county.
Britt Herrin, executive director of Pike County Chamber of Commerce and
Economic Development District, said this week that Corrections Corporation of
America, which proposes building the prison in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park,
wants to wait until after the Christmas holidays. Meanwhile, CCA officials
hope to meet individually or in small groups with some of the prison's
critics. "They felt that was a prudent way to discuss the project with
people who are emotional about it," Herrin said. A tour of a CCA prison
at Woodville is still scheduled for Dec. 13. A prison to house illegal aliens
was considered for the area in 2001 but fell victim to federal budget cuts in
2001 following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
July 19, 2002
In another matter, executive director Britt Herrin said Cornell Corrections,
Inc. might appeal the Federal Bureau of Prisons decision not to locate a
prison in Pike County. The Houston, Texas based company spent about $2
million preliminary costs to construct the privately owned and operated
federal prison to house illegal aliens at Fernwood. "Gave it our
best shot...just beyond our control," Herrin said of the prison
project. (Enterprise-Journal)
June 6, 2002
After months of delays, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons announced it choise for a new federal prison Thursday, and Pike County
wasn't it. George Killinger of Cornell Corrections Inc., which had
planned to build the Pike County prison, expressed shock this morning.
"We're just very saddened here and disappointed." In
2000 the bureau started with 14 prospective sites, and late last
year it recommended McRae and Pike County. But the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks changed everything. More money went to homeland
security, more illegal aliens were deported, immigration was
tightened, and local officials got word a month ago
that the bureau would choose just one site in the Southeast.
That pitted the McRae site,
proposed by Corrections Corp. of America, against Pike
County. “The one thing CCA-McRae had was a facility already built,”
Killinger said. “That was probably the biggest difference. “We
found no resistance, and that is so unusual.” Killinger would not say
exactly how much Cornell has spent in preparation work here, but admitted
it’s a lot. “We haven’t come up with a dollar amount, but many years
and lots of time and sweat and an awful lot of money,” he said, citing
environmental studies, blueprints and other work. “We had no, no
indication we would not be selected, up till the 11th hour. We thought the
announcement would be made today,” he said. “We all had smiles on our
faces and were ready to come to McComb and put the
shovel in the ground.” Earlier this month Pike County supervisors
agreed to spend $800,000 for 110 acres to enlarge the Metro-Pike Industrial
Park for the proposed prison. But they said the expansion was needed whether
the county gets a prison or not. Killinger, whose company
is in the business of building and operating prisons, said it
might still propose Pike County for a prison in the
future. “There’s
got to be some form of prison population that will grow,” he
said. “We do know that we have a site and community and partnership
that we would be anxious to start again.” (Enterprise-Journal)
May 7, 2002
Pike
County officials say they have found evidence that they shouldn’t
have to reimburse the U.S. Department of Justice $30,836 in
grant funds after all. In another matter, supervisors
voted to go ahead with the purchase of 110 acres to enlarge the
industrial park for a federal prison even though the prison
hasn’t been formally approved. The Pike County Economic Development
District will buy the land for $800,000, and the county will
issue bonds.
The
option to buy was set to expire May 1. The county won’t qualify
for a grant until the prison is formally approved. The purchase
was contingent on the prison project, which has been delayed
repeatedly by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Last year supervisors
agreed to issue $1.5 million in bonds to buy the land and as
matching funds for a grant to provide roads and utilities to the
property. Cornell Companies Inc. plans to build a low-security
prison to house immigrants accused of violating laws in the
United States. (Enterprise-Journal)
Tallahatchie Correctional Facility
Tutwiler, Mississippi
Aug
28, 2020 vpr.org
Vermont
Inmates Allege Lack Of Care In Mississippi Prison
Hit By COVID-19
Vermont
inmates held at an out-of-state prison experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak say
they’re being kept in the dark and don’t always have access to appropriate
care. More than 80% of the 219 Vermont prisoners at the privately-owned
Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi have tested positive
for the virus. Two inmates are in the infirmary, none are hospitalized and
172 of the prisoners are considered in recovery because they’ve been without
symptoms for 10 days, according to the Vermont Department of Corrections.
Harry Norway, one of 185 the inmates who tested positive, said he has a
temperature of 101, but that officials at the facility won’t give him any
fever-reducing medication, like Tylenol. “They tell us everything that we can
take for [it]. We're allowed to order it off commissary,” Norway said in a
phone call with VPR. “I'm a diabetic and I got this virus and they give me
nothing to fight it.” "I'm a diabetic and I got this virus and they give
me nothing to fight it." — Harry Norway, inmate at Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility. Norway said he doesn’t have the money right now to buy
Tylenol, which he says costs about $7.50 for a bottle of 100 pills. The 50 year-old said he’s not the only inmate with
pre-existing conditions. “There's people here that are a lot older than I
am,” he said in a phone interview. “Why wait until they get so sick that they
have to go to hospital, when they can treat them beforehand so that they
don't get that sick?” Vermont DOC Facilities Executive Alan Cormier said
inmates in Vermont should not have to buy Tylenol if it’s to help treat
symptoms related to COVID-19. “It’s very concerning, especially with all the
protocols and efforts we put into place to keep this out of our facilities
and the work we’ve done to try to suppress it in Mississippi. It is
concerning to hear,” Cormier said. CoreCivic, the
company that runs the Mississippi facility, disputes that inmates are denied
medicine. “Any claims being made that an inmate isn't receiving medical care,
especially if they present a fever or any other symptoms consistent with
COVID-19, are patently false,” CoreCivic public
affairs manager Ryan Gustin said in an email. The
outbreak in Mississippi was first identified at the end of July when six
inmates returned to Vermont and tested positive when they arrived at Marble
Valley Correctional Facility. Shortly after those initial cases were discovered,
the state pushed for all of the Vermont inmates in
Mississippi to be tested and the number of confirmed infections quickly grew.
Norway was not the only inmate in Mississippi to express dismay at how the
outbreak is being handled. Another inmate claimed prison officials were
providing little information about the outbreak and what the next steps will
be. "We're responsible for these inmates and we want to make sure
they're being taken care of." — Alan Cormier, Vermont DOC Facilities
Executive. Cormier said it’s concerning to hear that inmates in Mississippi
are that worried about the situation. “For anyone to feel like they may have
a death sentence is not okay,” Cormier said. “We’re responsible for these
inmates and we want to make sure they’re being taken care of.” DOC staff are
travelling to the facility next week to assess the situation. The department
will also soon have access to the camera system at Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility, which will allow state officials to verify that CoreCivic is following coronavirus mitigation procedures.
Aug
15, 2020 wcax.com
Mississippi
inmate dies after attack in privately run prison
JACKSON,
Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Department of Corrections says one inmate has
died after being assaulted by another at a privately run prison. The
department said Friday that the attack on Lester Andre Henderson, 36,
happened Wednesday at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in
Tutwiler. The prison is run by CoreCivic. It holds
inmates from Mississippi, South Carolina, Vermont
and Wyoming. It also holds federal inmates for the U.S. Marshals Service.
Henderson is at least the 60th Mississippi inmate to die since late December.
Several of the deaths happened during violence in late December and early
January. The Justice Department is investigating Mississippi’s prison system.
Aug
5, 2020 vpr.org
Officials
Say State Failed To Ensure Private Prison Tested All
Vermont Inmates
Gov.
Phil Scott has acknowledged that his administration failed to ensure that
Vermont prisoners held in a Mississippi prison were all tested for the
coronavirus. Scott spoke at a news briefing Tuesday about the outbreak inside
the prison run by CoreCivic, a private contractor.
At least 85 of the 219 Vermonters held there have tested positive. “In
hindsight, you know, I should have seen this coming in some respects,” Scott
said. “But we were relying on CoreCivic to do the
testing. And they were testing with symptomatic cases and not throughout.”
Vermont routinely tests all its inmates, regardless of whether they show
COVID-19 symptoms. Officials say CoreCivic will now
test all Vermonters in Mississippi as its contract with the state requires.
Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said there was blame
to go around. He said CoreCivic failed to test all
the Vermont inmates, and the Vermont Corrections Department failed to make
sure that was happening. “As the contractor [CoreCivic]
was slow to implement the Vermont protocol, especially as the spread of the
virus in Mississippi started to accelerate, we needed to do a better job to
stay on top of that and we did not," Smith said. He added that he may
need to send state officials to Mississippi to make sure that Vermonters held
in the private prison are getting the COVID testing and health care they
need. “We have people on the phone every day with them. Those meetings have
been almost 24/7, now making sure that we stay on top of that what's going on
down there," Smith said. "We may put boots on the ground there.
That's an option we may have to do, if we feel that
is necessary." Officials also used the news briefing to encourage
companies to apply for hazard pay grants available to workers on the front
lines of the COVID 19 pandemic. The Legislature created the $28 million
program using federal funds. Lawmakers had hoped to include more employees —
such as those working in grocery stores — but those workers were not eligible
for the federal dollars. The money is available on first-come, first-served
basis. Smith outlined the criteria: “Eligible employees must have been
working in a job with an elevated risk of exposure to COVID-19 during the
emergency period,” he said. “This job must have been in-person, and not done
through telework.” Employees can receive grants of $1,200 or $2,000. The
money is available for health care workers, people working in homeless
shelters, residential treatment centers, first responders and other jobs that
put workers at risk for exposure to the virus. Meanwhile, with a week to
before the primary election, Gov. Scott says he'd like to campaign more, but
needs to stay focused on COVID-19. A new VPR-Vermont PBS poll finds the
two-term incumbent enjoys wide support, with Democrats favoring him even more
than Republicans. But Scott downplayed his odds this election year. “I think
I have as good a chance as any of my other competitors,” he said. Scott faces
four challengers in the August 11 GOP primary.
Jan
21, 2020 jacksonfreepress.com
State's Payments to CoreCivic for Housing
Inmates at Private Prison May Exceed Legal Limits
Mississippi's
emergency contract with a private prison corporation to house 375 inmates
could exceed legal limits even more than previously known. Earlier this
month, Mississippi agreed to house the inmates from the Mississippi State
Penitentiary in Sunflower County to the Tallahatchie County Correctional
Facility in Tutwiler, Miss., for 90 days amid an outbreak of deadly violence.
The State will pay more than $2 million to the CoreCivic
corporation to house the inmates in Tutwiler during that period. Under state
law, though, contracts with private prisons must come at least 10% under the
per diem cost for State-run prisons. A PEER report last year found that
Mississippi Department of Corrections spends $53.72 per diem at a "model
state facility based on the average costs, security requirements, and medical
needs of inmates housed in state operated facilities." The contract with
the Tutwiler prison would need to come in at $48.35 or under to meet the
less-than-10% required by law. Instead, the State will pay more than $60 per
prisoner per day under the emergency contract, which former Gov. Phil Bryant
inked just before he left office earlier this month. The April 2019 PEER
report noted that "state law requires that private prisons represent at
least a 10% savings to MDOC's costs for the same level quality of
services." The base-level $53.72 that MDOC spends per prisoner includes
$10.28 per day for medical costs. Under this month's agreement with the CoreCivic prison, though, the State would pay for any
prisoner's off-site medical costs that exceed $2,500. CoreCivic
would not be responsible for any costs associated with treating inmates for
AIDS, HIV or Hepatitis C. That means that the per diem cost, which already
exceeds $60, could potentially balloon even higher. MDOC justified its
decision to move the prisoners, saying it does not have enough staff to
ensure the inmates' safety. Last year, the Mississippi Legislature rejected a
request for a $7-million increase to raise pay for staff at State prisons in
what would have been an attempt to recruit more employees to the low-paying
positions. MDOC had more than 500 unfilled positions at its prisons last
year. On Sunday, MDOC confirmed that guards found an inmate hanging in his
cell on Saturday at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, marking the sixth death in a State prison
in the past month and the third at the Sunflower County facility. Last July,
prison-reform advocates warned that the State's high rates of incarceration
were contributing to the problem and creating dangerous conditions.
"Mississippi has a mass-incarceration problem," Interim Director of
the American Civil Liberties of Mississippi Josh Tom said at the time.
"Dramatic increases in imprisonment over the last 40 years have brought
prisons and jails across the state to the breaking point. Changes in law and
policy, not crime rates, explain most of this increase." CoreCivic, previously known as the Corrections
Corporation of America, operates other prisons in the State, too, including the
Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, and has long had prominent
backers in the state including former Gov. Haley Barbour and a University of
Mississippi journalism board member Charles Overby. The U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency is currently contracting with CoreCivic
to hold hundreds of Hispanic and Latino undocumented immigrants, refugees,
and asylum seekers at the facility in Adams County. That includes some of the
hundreds of Mississippi poultry plant workers whom ICE detained following its
massive August 2019 worksite raids. Private prisons in Mississippi used to
house immigrants who committed felonies; now they're housing refugees. Ashton
Pittman reports. MDOC did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
A spokeswoman for CoreCivic emailed today to say:
"In deference to our government partner, questions regarding contracts
should be directed to the Mississippi Department of Corrections." In a
Jan. 9 statement, CoreCivic President and CEO Damon
Hininger said the company was "pleased to
assist the state of Mississippi due to significant challenges in their
correctional system." Situations like this exemplify how critically
important it is for state and federal partners to have access to our real
estate assets and associated service offerings," Hininger
said. "Our Tallahatchie facility will provide immediate capacity for the
state to move a portion of their close custody inmate population, which will
quickly improve the safety and security of their entire correctional system.
Without the private sector there would be no immediate alternative solution
available to the state."
Jan
11, 2020 localmemphis.com
Mississippi
Department of Corrections contracts with private prison company to house Parchman inmates
Moving
some inmates from the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman
to nearby Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler is among the
steps the Mississippi Department of Corrections is taking to maintain order
in the wake of the recent unrest in the state prison system. The department
has contracted with CoreCivic Inc. to immediately
house up to 375 maximum security inmates initially for 90 days. “The Tutwiler
facility was chosen because it is the only location that can immediately take
on this population,” Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall
said. “The facility is already operational and sufficiently staffed to manage
close custody inmates. The department acted swiftly because of the violence
at MSP and a lack of manpower to restore and maintain order. We also cannot
staff any other facility.” Unit 29, where the inmates were initially housed,
has a failing infrastructure at Parchman, which has
the capacity for 3,560 inmates. Cleaning continues there from the recent acts
of vandalism. The unit has been plagued with vandalism over the years and
needs major repair and renovation. While Unit 32, a maximum
security unit, is structurally sound and not condemned, it has been a
temporary housing location to separate rival security threat groups, or rival
gang members, from further acts of violence. During the entire process, the
inmates’ needs have been met. They have received food, bottled water, and
necessary medical attention. Additionally, the Tutwiler facility was
inspected Wednesday by the State Department of Health and approved. “All of
the cells passed a sanitation inspection which includes running water, hot
and cold temperature availability, and proper lighting,” said Mississippi
State Department of Health Environmentalist Rayford Horton. “We also
inspected the water quality and kitchen facilities. I am pleased with what I
found out there.” Details of inmates’ movement are usually confidential for
security reasons. Department plans call for notification of family members
once movement is completed. The prison has about 3,100 inmates today. The
initial plan is to house up to 375 inmates at Tutwiler, which is less than 10
minutes from Parchman, at a cost of more than $2
million. The contract with the Tennessee-based company may be extended for
two more 90-day terms. Walnut Grove Correctional Facility in Leake County, a vacant prison, can house the type of
inmates in question, but the MDOC does not have the staff to operate it.
“While the department has challenges, keeping staff and the inmates safe is
always our priority,” Commissioner Hall said. “We do not want to see any more
loss of life.”
Jan 10, 2019 mississippitoday.org
The
state inked a deal to house Parchman inmates in a
private prison. Is it legal?
Editor’s
note: Several hours after this story published, Mississippi Today obtained
the contract between the Mississippi Department of Corrections and CoreCivic. Two House lawmakers want more details about
the legality of an agreement to temporarily house Parchman
inmates at a privately owned and operated prison in the Delta. Late Wednesday
afternoon, several people briefed on the contract between the Department of
Corrections and Nashville-based CoreCivic, which
owns and operates the prison, shared its details with Mississippi Today. A
budget document submitted to the Legislature on Thursday and obtained by
Mississippi Today confirmed the Department of Corrections is paying CoreCivic $65 per day per inmate for housing at the
private prison. Under the 90-day contract, the Department of Corrections will
pay $2.1 million to CoreCivic if the planned 364
inmates are transferred. State law allows for no more than 1,000 state
inmates to be housed at the Tallahatchie Correctional Facility but mandates
that “the inmate cost per day is at least 10 percent less than the inmate
cost per day for housing a state inmate at a state correctional facility,”
the law reads. A legislative oversight committee last year stated the model
cost per inmate per day at $53.72. Under the statutory cap, the state should
not pay more than $48.35 per inmate per day to CoreCivic
for inmate housing. (Editor’s note: Charles Overby, a Mississippi Today board
member and donor, serves on the CoreCivic board of
directors.) Earlier, several sources who asked not to be named because they
are not authorized to discuss it with the news media said the state planned
to transfer 364 inmates to the private prison and would pay the prison’s
parent company CoreCivic “around $60 per day per
inmate.” As news of the inmate transfer to the Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility reached the Capitol on Wednesday morning, legislative
leaders began questioning whether the amount was within legal bounds. Rep.
Bill Kinkade, R-Byhalia, who served as chairman of the House Corrections
Committee the past four years, told Mississippi Today on Wednesday he will
ask the House Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committee to look into the contract. “I understand it is an emergency
situation, and I am not saying anything is wrong, but I am just curious about
the details of the contract,” Kinkade said. “I just think we need to know the
details of the contract.” Rep. Jerry Turner, R-Baldwyn, who served as
chairman of the House Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency for the past
four years, said he had not seen the contract yet, but wanted to know the
details, “just as soon as I can get my hands on it.” Following a spate of
violence resulting in the deaths of at least five state inmates since the new
year began, the corrections department began transferring inmates from the
Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman to the
Tallahatchie Correctional Facility, a private prison. Efforts by Mississippi
Today to obtain a copy of the full contract were unsuccessful. Officials at
the Department of Corrections and in Gov. Phil Bryant’s office did not
respond to numerous requests for comment on Wednesday, nor was the contract
posted to the state’s transparency website by end of business. Two hours
after this story published, CoreCivic released a
statement announcing the contract. “Situations like this exemplify how
critically important it is for state and federal partners to have access to
our real estate assets and associated service offerings,” CoreCivic
President and CEO Damon Hininger said in the
release. “… Without the private sector there would be no immediate
alternative solution available to the state.” If the contract passes legal
scrutiny, the Department of Corrections will need a deficit appropriation —
or a special mid-year cash infusion to cover budget shortfalls for state
agencies — to cover the cost of the contract. The budget document obtained by
Mississippi Today on Thursday indicated that if the planned 364 inmates are
transferred to the Tallahatchie Correctional Facility, the department will
need at least $2.1 million from the Legislature to cover the costs. If the
statutory limit of 1,000 inmates are moved to the private prison, the
department will need $5.8 million. “We will have a deficit, but to what
degree we do not know at this time,” said Rep. John Read, R-Gautier, who is
chairman of the House Appropriations committee. “We have a number and we do
have the revenue for that number, but considering everything that’s passed by
recently, that number could increase and we would just have to wait and see
what that number is.” Before the latest contract with CoreCivic,
the Department of Corrections paid millions annually to other private prison
companies. In fiscal year 2019, the department spent $64.5 million on private
prisons. Utah-based Management and Training Corp., or MTC, operates East
Mississippi Correctional Facility, Marshall County Correctional Facility and
Wilkinson County Correctional Facility. A federal judge recently dismissed a
lawsuit against the state over conditions at the East Mississippi facility.
Sep
4, 2019 sfchronicle.com
Mississippi: Vermont inmate dies at Corecivic
prison
WATERBURY,
Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Department of Corrections says a 39-year-old inmate
has died in a Mississippi prison facility owned and operated by CoreCivic. Officials said Monday that Christopher Chase
died of an apparent suicide in his cell at the Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility. Chase was serving a sentence of 20 years to life after
pleading guilty to second degree murder in his girlfriend's killing in
Vermont. He's been incarcerated since September 2008 and has been housed in
an out-of-state, privately run prison since 2010. He was assigned to the
general population living unit. The Vermont defender general's office has
been notified and the health services director will conduct an administrative
and clinical review of Chase's death.
Feb 11, 2019 trib.com
Wyoming man dies by apparent suicide in private
Mississippi prison
A Wyoming man who was being held in a private Mississippi
prison died of an apparent suicide this weekend, a Wyoming Department of
Corrections official said Monday morning. The man, Charles Edward Jones, died
Saturday in the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, according to a
statement from the Wyoming corrections department. He was incarcerated in the
prison as part of a contract with CoreCivic,
formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America, which has operated
private prisons since the early 1980s. Jones, 38, was serving a sentence of
life without parole handed down in 2010 by a Laramie County judge for
convictions of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery with a deadly
weapon. According to media accounts published at the time of his conviction,
prosecutors had told jurors Jones and another man entered a Cheyenne house
party in July 2009, demanded money from an insurance settlement from a
21-year-old man and then killed him. Wyoming prison officials began sending
inmates last year to the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, in Tutwiler,
Mississippi, to minimize staffing and space issues at Wyoming prisons. In the
Monday statement, a corrections department spokesman said 89 Wyoming
prisoners are being held in the Mississippi prison. Keeping a prisoner in
Wyoming State Penitentiary costs about $131 dollars a day, spokesman Mark
Horan said last year. The corrections department spends $70.42 per day for
the prisoners held in Mississippi. The Wyoming Department of Corrections, the
Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility and local law enforcement are
investigating Jones's death.
May
31, 2017 wjtv.com
MBN
arrests prison guard in connection with heroin investigation
CLARKSDALE,
Miss. (WJTV) — The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics has arrested a Tutwiler
prison guard in connection with a heroin investigation. MBN Director John
Dowdy said 37-year-old Cynthia D. Smith was arrested over the weekend at the
Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. Tallahatchie County Correctional
is a private prison in Tutwiler run by California-based Corrections
Corporation of America. Dowdy said law enforcement officers executed a search
warrant at Smith’s home. They found 12 ounces of black tar heroin, two ounces
of pharmaceutical-grade marijuana and a significant about of cash, Director
Dowdy said. “This heroin seizure is substantial in terms of quantity and is a
clear indicator that no part of our state is immune from this deadly drug,”
Director Dowdy said. Smith is charged with possession of heroin with intent
to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and
conspiracy to possess heroin. Her bond is set at $150,000.
October 28, 2009 Clarksdale Press Register
The state of California have sent corrections investigators to Tutwiler
Prison following an inmate attack that injured two guards. One of the injured
guards at the private facility, Norris Holly, is a former two-term Friars
Point Alderman. The incident occurred Thursday during breakfast in the dining
hall at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, which is
run by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America. Corrections
officials say several inmates from California, who had been transferred to
the prison, attacked the staff. According to sources, Norris is being treated
for 22 puncture wounds and a collapsed lung. An unidentified Lieutenant was
treated for injuries to his eye and jaw and released. No inmates were
injured. The facility is on lockdown. The incident is under investigation.
CDCR’s strike team will support Correctional Corporation of America staff in
its investigation and review, help identify inmates who participated in the
incident, conduct threat assessments and interviews, and evaluate housing
placement.
October 22, 2009 AP
The state of California is sending corrections investigators to a private
prison in the Mississippi Delta where inmates attacked and injured two
guards. The incident occurred Thursday during breakfast in the dining hall at
the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, which is run by
Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America. Corrections officials say
several inmates from California, who had been transferred to the prison,
attacked the staff. Two CCA officers were injured and one remained
hospitalized Thursday. Staff used a chemical spray to break up the attack.
The facility is on lockdown. The California officers will help CCA
investigate.
May 23, 2008 Sacramento Bee
California's prison medical czar will investigate the so-called
"long-term viability" of a private prison company's contract with
the state because of problems at one of the firm's out-of-state facilities.
In a letter to the Corrections Corporation of America, receiver J. Clark
Kelso's top aide cited the death of one California inmate and delayed health
care for another at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in
Tutwiler, Miss. Chief of staff John Hagar's letter said the receiver's office
will send an oversight team to Mississippi on Monday. It is investigating the
death April 23 of Robert Washington and what the letter called "delays
in the delivery of medical care" to another inmate, identified as
Frederick Gusta. Hagar's letter, dated Wednesday,
said the receiver's office plans to meet soon in Sacramento with company
officials and that the session "will include a discussion of ..... the long-term
viability of the contract between the California Department of Corrections
and CCA." "Everything is on the table," receiver's spokesman
Luis Patino said Thursday about the contract. The
private prison company houses 3,904 California inmates in six prisons located
in Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arizona. The company's two contracts
are costing the state $115 million in the current fiscal year. California
corrections officials say the out-of-state program is vital to relieving
pressure on the state's system as inmates are jammed into 33 prisons at twice
their designed capacity. Corrections spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said Thursday it
would be "premature to react" to Hagar's letter "until there's
an investigation complete." Hidalgo said the state considers the
transfer program a "great success" that has allowed California to
move inmates out of triple-bunked gymnasiums. Two public employee unions have
sued the state in Sacramento Superior Court to block the transfers on grounds
they violated the employees' civil service protections. The unions prevailed.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration appealed the lower court's
rulings. A hearing on the appeal is set for Tuesday in Sacramento. Inmate
Washington, 41, died of cardiac arrest after being stricken by an asthma
attack, according to Coahoma County, Miss., chief medical examiner and
investigator Scotty Meredith. Washington was serving seven years for vehicle
theft. Meredith said it was his opinion that the medical care at the
Tallahatchie County prison was "excellent" but that it took a
private ambulance company 35 minutes to respond to the asthma attack.
Washington was taken from the prison to a Coahoma County hospital 12 miles
away, in the northwest Mississippi Delta region, about 75 miles south of
Memphis, Tenn. "I don't think anything was wrong (at the prison), but I
wasn't there," Meredith said in an interview. No details were available
on Gusta's case, except that he complained of chest
pains and also was transported to a local hospital where he is still
receiving care, Hidalgo said. Hidalgo said there also were "some
delays" in Gusta's transportation to the
hospital.
May 13, 2008 Sacramento Bee
California's prison medical care receiver is investigating the death of
an inmate who was being housed in Mississippi. "I'm told it was an
asthma-related death," said receiver's spokesman Rich Kirkland.
Corrections officials identified the inmate as Robert Washington, 41, of San
Joaquin County. Washington was serving seven years for vehicle theft. Autopsy
results on Washington's April 23 death are still pending, corrections
spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said Monday. Washington died at the Tallahatchie
County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Miss. The prison is owned and
operated by the Corrections Corporation of America. Washington is the second
inmate moved under California's out-of-state transfer plan to have died in
custody since the program began two years ago. Anthony Kelly, 48, serving
eight years on a drug case, died last May from an apparent heart attack while
watching a fight involving other inmates. There are now 3,765 California
inmates serving time out of state, Hidalgo said. State officials embarked on
the transfer plan to help relieve pressure in the state's overcrowded
prisons. Two public employee unions filed suit to block the transfers. The
unions prevailed in Sacramento Superior Court, but the cases are pending on
appeal.
August 18, 2007 Sacramento Bee
California corrections officials have begun sending hundreds of foreign
national inmates against their will to a private prison in Mississippi as
part of a stepped-up, out-of-state transfer plan. The first two flights of
prisoners to the Tallahatchie County Detention Facility in Tutwiler, Miss.,
have taken place without incident, officials said, in spite of fears
expressed by the California correctional officers union that the forced
transfers would be met with inmate violence. "Many of the inmates had
never been on a plane before in their lives," said Scott Kernan, the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation's chief deputy secretary for adult operations. "They were
a little scared. But once they got on the flight, they were fine." Some
200 foreign national inmates, mostly from Mexico, were shipped to the
Mississippi prison on flights July 20 and July 27, a state prison spokesman
said. A total of 597 inmates -- including 397 volunteers -- have now been
sent to private prisons in Mississippi, Arizona and Tennessee. Kernan said the state hopes to move 5,000 prisoners to
out-of-state institutions by June 30 to help relieve overcrowding in
California. "We have a very aggressive schedule that will include trips
of approximately 120 inmates every couple of weeks," Kernan
said. Some 173,000 inmates in the state are being housed in space designed
for about half that many, with federal judges now considering a motion to
place a population cap on the system that could result in early releases for
tens of thousands of prisoners. Francisco Estrada, a lobbyist for the Mexican
American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the transfers of the foreign
nationals raise a host of potentially problematic legal issues for the
corrections agency. If the inmates are legal residents, the transfers figure
to separate them from their families and immigration attorneys, and
"that's wrong," Estrada said. They also create a prospect for
racial targeting on the part of prison officials. "We need to be very
careful," Estrada said, adding that he will be discussing the issue with
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund attorneys. Foreign
nationals being transferred under the out-of-state program are all subject to
holds "or potential holds" placed on them by Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, said corrections spokesman Bill Sessa. They include both
legal and illegal residents, he said. No inmates "with demonstrated
family ties" are being transferred for now, Sessa said. Nor are any
being moved "if they're in the middle of legal proceedings,"
including immigration matters, Sessa said. The California Correctional Peace
Officers Association in February won a ruling in Sacramento Superior Court
stopping the transfer program. The union claimed the program violated state
civil service protections guaranteed under the California Constitution. The
ruling has since been stayed pending an appeal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
CCPOA leaders also voiced opposition to the transfers during the debate over
the recently enacted $7.9 billion prison construction plan, which included
legislative approval for moving 8,000 inmates out of state. Union officials
said the involuntary transfers would put officers in danger from resisting
inmates. CCPOA spokesman Ryan Sherman said Friday that the union is
"very grateful" that no officers have been injured in extracting
the prisoners from their cells. "We're hopeful that will continue as the
governor continues to do these unconstitutional transfers," Sherman
said. Sherman characterized the Tallahatchie County prison in Mississippi,
operated by the Correctional Corp. of America, as one of "the most
troubled" in the country. He based his assessment on newspaper articles
detailing assorted disturbances at the prison dating back to 2003.
"Private prisons lower the bar for the entire profession by providing
extremely limited training and remarkably poor compensation and
benefits," Sherman said. "They're in it to make a buck. Public
safety is nowhere on their priority list." CCA spokeswoman Louise Grant
said her company "is extremely proud of the Tallahatchie County Correctional
Facility" and that private prisons are no more dangerous than those
operated by the state.
July 22, 2007 Honolulu Advertiser
The private prison company that holds Hawai'i convicts on the Mainland
acknowledged that multiple cell doors accidentally opened on four occasions
at one of the company's new Arizona prisons, including one incident where
alleged prison gang members used the opportunity to attack a Hawai'i inmate.
The state's highest prison official said he's troubled that Corrections
Corporation of America did not immediately notify the state about the
incidents. The statement released by CCA announced that "appropriate
disciplinary action was taken on officers in regard to four separate
inadvertent cell door openings" at the Red Rock Correctional Center. The
statement did not offer any specifics, and a company spokeswoman said in an
e-mail that CCA would not provide additional details. Hawai'i Department of
Public Safety interim director Clayton Frank said CCA did not tell Hawai'i
prison authorities about some of the incidents until Wednesday night, after
The Advertiser published complaints from inmates about repeated cases where
doors opened unexpectedly and improperly, leaving protective custody
prisoners vulnerable to attacks by prison gangs. Frank said he is "troubled"
that CCA did not tell Hawai'i about some of the incidents. The company
explained it did not immediately report some cases where doors opened because
those incidents did not involve attacks on Hawai'i inmates, Frank said.
"Right now, I have some serious concerns and doubt of whether they are
providing us with everything," he said. "If it involves our
inmates, I want to make sure that what they're giving us is true and
accurate. "I want something to go directly to corporate office up there
that says you guys have got to be candid when we ask questions." The
state pays about $50 million a year to house 2,100 convicts in Mainland CCA
prisons because there is no room for them in Hawai'i facilities. INMATE
STABBED In the most serious of the incidents at Red Rock, Hawai'i inmate John
Kupa was stabbed with a homemade knife on June 26
after more than half of the cell doors abruptly opened in his housing unit.
That incident is being blamed on an error by a corrections officer.
Protective custody inmates are housed in that prison pod along with general
population inmates. That mix requires that prisoners there be separated
constantly, and the doors there are never supposed to open simultaneously,
prison officials said. Hawai'i Public Safety officials say that when the
doors opened, Kupa and a 44-year-old inmate
allegedly attacked Hawai'i convict Sidney Tafokitau.
During the struggle, prison officials say Tafokitau
allegedly stabbed Kupa. Tafokitau,
a protective custody inmate, has said he acted in self-defense, and said he
got the knife by taking it away from one of his attackers. Kupa, 36, was stabbed in the lower left back, and was
treated and released from an Arizona hospital. The Red Rock stabbing marks
the second time in two years a Hawai'i inmate has been injured when cell
doors unexpectedly opened in a CCA prison living unit where inmates were
supposed to be locked down. In the earlier case, 20 cell doors in a
disciplinary unit of the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in
Mississippi suddenly opened at 2:48 a.m. on July 17, 2005, releasing about
three dozen Hawai'i convicts from their cells. Inmates then attacked Hawai'i
inmate Ronnie Lonoaea, who was beaten so badly he
suffered brain damage, and is now confined to a wheelchair. Hawai'i prison
officials this week revealed the doors opened in Mississippi in that 2005
disturbance because a corrections officer had been "compromised" by
a prison gang. Lawyer Myles Breiner, who is suing
the state and CCA on behalf of Lonoaea and his
family, said Lonoaea will need extensive medical
care for the rest of his life, care that is expected to "easily"
cost $10 million to $11 million. Breiner said he is
also gathering information about attacks triggered by doors that improperly
opened at Red Rock, and is considering filing suit on behalf of inmates that
were attacked or injured in those cases. DELIBERATE ERROR? "Their doors
are opening, and the only people responsible for the management and security
is CCA," Breiner said. He said some of the
lapses at Red Rock seem to be caused by human error or problems with the
equipment, while the inmates suspect some of the other incidents have been
deliberate. "Whether it's corruption or construction, CCA is still
responsible," Breiner said. The statement from
CCA said the company has taken corrective measures. "We stand by our
reputation as a provider of quality corrections management services, and will
continue to assess our operational activities to further refine and improve
our safety processes," the company said.
July 18, 2007 Honolulu Advertiser
For the second time in two years, improper actions by a corrections
worker caused cell doors to unexpectedly open in a Mainland prison where
Hawai'i inmates were supposed to be kept separated, triggering violence that
injured a Hawai'i convict, prison officials said. In the first incident at a
Mississippi prison in 2005, Hawai'i convict Ronnie Lonoaea,
34, was beaten so severely that he suffered brain damage and is now confined
to a wheelchair. Lonoaea's family sued the Hawai'i
prison system and Corrections Corp. of America last week in connection with
the case. In a second incident last month at Red Rock Correctional Center in
Arizona, an error by a prison staffer caused cell doors to abruptly open,
prison officials said. Hawai'i inmate John Kupa,
36, was stabbed in the left lower back, according to a police report. The two
incidents raise concerns about the treatment of Hawai'i inmates in Mainland
prisons run by a private company, said an expert on prisons and a state
legislator. In the Arizona case, cell doors abruptly opened on June 26 in a
prison pod where protective custody inmates are housed in some cells and
general population inmates including gang members are held in other cells. Kupa was stabbed with a homemade knife after the doors
opened at about 6 p.m., according to a report from the Eloy, Ariz., police
department. The injured inmate was treated and released at a local hospital,
according to a prison spokeswoman. In the Mississippi prison incident, 20
cell doors suddenly opened at 2:48 a.m. on July 17, 2005. About three dozen
Hawai'i inmates were released from their cells when the doors opened,
touching off a melee that lasted for 90 minutes in a disciplinary pod in the
Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. Corrections officers finally used
tear gas grenades to regain control of the pod. Hawai'i Department of Public
Safety spokeswoman Louise Kim McCoy said an internal investigation of the
Mississippi case found the doors opened because a corrections sergeant had
been "compromised" by prison gang members. Corrections Corp. of
America, which owns both the Mississippi and the Arizona prison, terminated
the sergeant, McCoy said in a written response to questions. Steve Owen,
director of marketing for CCA, declined to discuss the specifics of the June
26 incident and also declined comment on the lawsuit over the Tallahatchie
incident. PRIVATE VS. PUBLIC Byron E. Price, assistant professor of public
policy and administration at Rutgers University and author of a book on the
private prison industry, said Hawai'i has reason to be concerned about the
incidents at Tallahatchie and Red Rock. Private prison operators make money
by holding down costs, which is often accomplished by reducing labor costs,
said Price. The companies tend to rely heavily on technology as a way to keep
the officer-to-inmate ratios down, Price said. Private prison staff members
are typically inexperienced, he added. "By cutting labor costs, you get
a less qualified individual, and there's high turnover rate in the private
prisons, and they conduct less training for their corrections officers"
compared with publicly run prisons, said Price, who is author of
"Merchandizing Prisoners: Who Really Pays for Prison
Privatization?" Corrections Yearbook statistics show the staff turnover
at private prisons averages 52 percent a year, while the turnover at public
prisons is about 16 percent, he said. Hawai'i spends more than $50 million a
year to house inmates in CCA prisons on the Mainland, and Senate Public
Safety Committee Chairman Will Espero said he is
concerned about reports of security problems "that appear to be similar,
and that haven't been resolved." "Considering the millions of
dollars that we are spending on the Mainland, we would expect to get
excellent service, excellent facilities, and ... I would expect that with
their experience, they should be able to minimize any problems," he said
of CCA. LIFETIME CARE NEEDED When the cell doors opened in Mississippi,
prisoners attacked Lonoaea. His attackers tore or
cut off his lips and broke bones in his face, said Honolulu lawyer Michael
Green, who is suing CCA and the Hawai'i prison system on behalf of Lonoaea's family. Green said Lonoaea,
who is approaching the end of his prison sentence, will need intensive
healthcare for the rest of his life that will likely cost $10 million to $11
million. The lawsuit alleges Hawai'i prison officials were negligent for
failing to properly oversee the prison, and alleges CCA failed to properly
train or supervise TCCF staff. Inmates at Red Rock who were interviewed by
The Advertiser complain that multiple cell doors there have repeatedly opened
without warning at times when prisoners are supposed to be locked down,
leaving protective custody inmates open to danger. Officials at the privately
owned Red Rock facility have disarmed the fuses in the electrical systems
that operate the doors to some cells in the facility since the June 26
incident, and corrections officers at Red Rock have been manually opening the
doors with keys, said McCoy of the Hawai'i Department of Public Safety. In a
written response to questions, McCoy confirmed inmate accounts of the attack
in Echo-Delta pod, a housing unit where inmates are supposed to remain
separated from each other at all times. After the doors opened, Kupa and a 44-year-old inmate allegedly attacked Sidney Tafokitau, 28. During the fight that followed, Tafokitau allegedly stabbed Kupa
with a homemade knife. Tafokitau said in a
telephone interview this is the second time his cell door at Red Rock has opened
without warning. Tafokitau said he acted in
self-defense on June 26 and said he obtained the homemade knife by seizing it
from one of his attackers during the fight. Tafokitau
also alleged that corrections officers initially fled from the fight instead
of intervening to break it up and only returned later with pepper spray after
Tafokitau's attackers had thrown him to the ground
and were beating him. "I telling you, this ... place is sloppy, cuz," said Tafokitau, who
is serving a life sentence for robbery. "They make so much mistakes ...
it's just a matter of time before another mistake. I telling you right now,
somebody gonna get killed, brah." Tafokitau said he was in the pod because he was
involuntarily placed in protective custody after he clashed with a prison
gang. EARLIER INCIDENTS Hawai'i inmates at Red Rock claim multiple cell doors
have opened simultaneously and unexpectedly before. Inmate Chris Wilmer, 29,
recounted an incident on Feb. 2 when all of the doors in Echo-Delta unit
again opened, releasing general population inmates into a dayroom occupied by
protective custody inmates. Wilmer, who also said he was involuntarily placed
in protective custody because of conflicts with gang members, said he
immediately became involved in a fight with two alleged members of a prison
gang who were released into the dayroom. Wilmer said a Hawai'i prison
official was notified of that incident and spoke to Wilmer about it. Wilmer
said he also witnessed a similar incident where the doors opened in Echo-Bravo
pod at about 6:30 p.m. on April 7, and Wilmer and another inmate both alleged
there was another example of doors opening unexpectedly between June 21 and
June 23 in the Echo-Bravo pod. The growing sense of insecurity in the pods
encourages inmates to try to obtain weapons, and Hawai'i needs to pressure
CCA to fix the problem, said Wilmer, who is serving prison terms for robbery,
attempted murder and other offenses. "For here and now, something needs
to be said and done," he said. "They don't have room for that kind
of mistakes." The officer who erred in the June 26 incident meant to
open doors in another pod used by Alaska inmates and instead opened the doors
to Hawai'i inmates' cells, McCoy said. She said the officer has been
disciplined. A female corrections officer who made a similar mistake by
opening multiple doors in a living unit elsewhere in the prison earlier this
year also was disciplined, McCoy said. McCoy could not immediately confirm
the other inmate reports of other cases where multiple cell doors opened
unexpectedly in February, April and June. RE-EVALUATING UNIT Part of the
problem on June 26 was that the pod involved was not designed to operate with
"serious violent offenders" who are locked in their cells for 23
hours each day, but those kinds of offenders ended up there because they
couldn't be held in Oklahoma or Mississippi, McCoy said. Those inmates are
now awaiting transfer to the newly opened Saguaro Correctional Center in
Arizona, which has a segregation unit designed to house them, she said. CCA
responded to the June 26 incident by re-evaluating the staffing patterns for
the unit that included the pod, and adding more experienced officers, McCoy
said. The prison operator also had the door system manufacturer update the
control panel software to add an extra safeguard to the system and is
providing more intensive training for all staff assigned to the units, McCoy
said. Hawai'i was holding more than 600 inmates last month at Red Rock, which
opened last year. In all, the state houses more than 2,100 men and women
convicts in CCA prisons on the Mainland because there is no room for them in
prisons in Hawai'i.
April 6, 2007 Honolulu Advertiser
An investigation into whether a Hawai'i inmate had obtained a firearm in
a Mississippi prison prompted a lockdown and search of the facility, and led
to the firings of five private prison employees, according to Hawai'i prison
officials and the Corrections Corporation of America. No gun was found during
the search of the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, but the incident
uncovered unspecified prison contraband that triggered state and federal
criminal investigations at the prison, according to Hawai'i and CCA prison
officials. Victoria Holly, human resource manager and public information officer
for the prison, said the 1,104-bed facility was locked down on Feb. 21, and
did not return to normal operations until March 15. She said the five prison
staff members were fired between March 7 and March 13, but declined to say if
the workers were corrections officers or employees in other occupations.
Holly declined to say what sort of contraband was turned up in the search of
the prison, and did not know which agencies were involved in the criminal
investigations. A spokeswoman for the FBI's office in Jackson, Miss., said
the agency will not confirm if it is involved in an ongoing investigation.
The Mississippi state attorney general's office did not return a call
requesting comment.
May 10, 2006 WAPT
About 860 Hawaii inmates at a Mississippi prison were locked down in
their cells for a week following a gang-related fight. Hawaii public safety
officials said the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility went into
lockdown after a dozen inmates from several gangs got into a fight April 30.
One of the inmates was armed with a bat. Louise Kim McCoy, a spokeswoman for
the Hawaii Department of Public Safety, said the inmates were only allowed
out of their cells for meals and a modified recreation time while
investigators searched the facility for contraband. The lockdown started
immediately after the fight and was lifted Monday. The private company that
operates the prison for Hawaii inmates, Corrections Corporation of America,
kept all the inmates confined because the incident involved gang activity.
There were no serious injuries from the fight. Last year, prison officials
moved about 40 Hawaii inmates who were believed to be active gang members
from the Diamondback Correctional Facility in Oklahoma to the Tallahatchie
location. Hawaii pays Corrections Corporation of America $40 million a year
to house more than 1,800 convicts in prisons in Mississippi, Oklahoma,
Arizona and Kentucky.
April 2, 2006 Honolulu Advertiser
Two captains and a sergeant at a privately run Mississippi prison were fired
after they were allegedly videotaped beating an inmate from Hawai'i,
according to the Hawai'i Department of Public Safety. The three were part of
a Special Operations Response Team established at the Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility to quell disturbances and control unruly prisoners. The
trouble began when general-population inmate Harry K. Hoopii,
55, allegedly assaulted two corrections officers at the prison at 6 p.m. Feb.
23, said Shari Kimoto, administrator of Public Safety's branch on the
Mainland. Kimoto said that Hoopii was then escorted
to a disciplinary holding cell in another part of the prison at about 7:50
p.m. and that the incident involving the SORT team occurred in his cell later
in the evening. It is regular procedure for the SORT team to use force in
responding to a violent inmate, but when the assistant warden and chief of
security at the prison reviewed the videotape of what took place in the cell,
they "realized that excessive force had been used," Kimoto said.
The three were fired for violating the policies of prison owner Corrections
Corporation of America, she said. The other members of the SORT team,
including the team member who was operating the hand-held video camera, were
suspended, she said. Kimoto said the inmate was taken to the hospital with
injuries that included multiple facial bruises and swelling and a cut lip. He
was later returned to the prison, where he was being held in a disciplinary
unit, she said. Concerns arose last year in connection with the Tallahatchie
facility after two inmates were injured in a violent disturbance touched off
when 20 cell doors in a prison disciplinary unit suddenly opened at 2:48 a.m.
July 17. In the melee that followed, Hawai'i inmate Ronnie Lonoaea was attacked and severely beaten in his cell by
other prisoners, and the prison staff had to use tear gas to regain control
of the unit. CCA said the doors opened because a prison sergeant accidentally
pushed the wrong button. The Hawai'i state attorney general's office asked
state prison officials to investigate the July 17 incident. Prison officials
have said they wanted to look into the possibility of gang involvement and
whether prison staff might have cooperated with the inmates in the incident.
March 12 2006 AP
A group of Colorado inmates who started a riot at a private prison in
Mississippi in 2004 so they could be transferred back to Colorado will force
lawmakers to review their policy that allowed the Department of Corrections
to ship troublemakers out of state. This week, The House Judiciary Committee
holds a hearing on a measure (Senate Bill 23) prohibiting the Department of
Corrections from placing state inmates classified higher than medium custody
in private prison facilities located within Colorado or outside the state.
The only exception would allow the governor to declare a correctional
emergency and by proclamation authorize the department to place state inmates
classified higher than medium custody in private prison facilities. Rep. Val
Vigil, D-Thornton, said an audit last year revealed that the state had no
policy on shipping high risk inmates out of state, and that other states have
no uniform way they treat low, medium or high risk prisoners. “We had to
decide whether we should change the practice or change the statutes. We
decided to change the statutes,” Vigil said. The disturbance occurred a day
after a similar riot at Crowley Correctional Facility, a private prison near
Olney Springs, Colo. At Crowley, inmates rioted and set fires, destroying one
living unit and extensively damaging four others. Both private prisons were
operated by Corrections Corp. of America, which was criticized by lawmakers
for not hiring enough employees at the Crowley facility. Rep. Buffie
McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, said Colorado has a duty to protect its inmates, and
the state can’t guarantee that when it sends them to other states which have
their own rules. “One thing government has to do is ensure public safety.
That includes inmates,” McFadyen said.
December 26, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
Acting Public Safety Director Frank Lopez has ordered a prison system
internal affairs investigation into a violent disturbance in a Mississippi
prison earlier this year that resulted in injuries to two Hawai'i inmates.
The incident at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Center began when 20
cell doors in a prison disciplinary unit abruptly opened at 2:48 a.m. on July
17, releasing about three dozen Hawai'i inmates from their cells. The unit
was reserved for particularly unruly convicts or prison gang members, and
some of the inmates who emerged from their cells immediately attacked
prisoner Ronnie Lonoaea in his cell, prison
officials have said. Lonoaea was hospitalized after
the attack with head and other injuries, and inmate Scott Lee, 25, suffered a
broken jaw in the disturbance. Inmates used a telephone cord to tie shut the
entrance to the Special Housing Incentive Program unit to keep corrections
officers out, and Tallahatchie prison staff had to drop tear gas grenades
from the roof to regain control of the unit about 90 minutes later. Hawai'i
Department of Public Safety officials demanded a "high level"
investigation of the incident, and Lopez said prison owner Corrections
Corporation of America submitted a letter to the state outlining the
company's findings. Lopez said the summary of the CCA findings suggested the
doors opened because an officer accidentally pushed the wrong button. Prison
officials have said a relief sergeant pushed the button that released the
inmates, and both the sergeant and the captain responsible for overseeing the
unit no longer work at the prison.
October 3, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
This tiny town has a slow feel to it. Some of that is a testament to southern
graciousness, when people make time for one another. Some of it is due to a
menacing apathy that festers when people are out on the street with nowhere
to go. This community in the North Delta region, described in federal reports
as one of the most depressed areas of the country, is where the Corrections
Corp. of America built the 1,104-bed Tallahatchie County Correctional
Facility in 2000. The prison holds more than 850 Hawai'i inmates. The 325
jobs at the prison offer the best-paying work around, said chief of security
Danny Dodd. CCA's starting pay in Tutwiler is about $8.40 an hour,
considerably less than the $13.20 an hour for new corrections officers in
Hawai'i, but Dodd said there is no shortage of applicants. There is
significant staff turnover, which means the prison is often short-handed.
Tutwiler resident Mary Meeks said her husband pulls double shifts at the
prison as often as twice a week because people quit or don't show up for
work. Some residents said they were led to believe the Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility would hold only Mississippi lawbreakers, and were
alarmed to learn the company was importing prisoners. Contract monitors last
year described the Mississippi staff as young and inexperienced, and said
most had never worked in a prison before. CCA requires five weeks of
training, compared with eight weeks for Hawai'i corrections officers.
According to monitoring reports, in the first six months after the Hawai'i
inmates arrived, several employees were fired for smuggling cigarettes into
the prison and having inappropriate relationships with inmates - a problem
that has arisen at other Mainland prisons where Hawai'i prisoners have been
held. Inmates complain about the medical and dental services at Tallahatchie,
gripes that were confirmed last year when Hawai'i prison monitors warned CCA
the prison was failing to meet National Commission on Correctional Health
Care Standards because a doctor was there only eight hours a week to care for
almost 1,000 convicts. In May, the monitors warned that dental services were
insufficient because a dentist was available only eight hours a week, but the
backlog of inmates waiting for dental care had been somewhat reduced when
inspectors returned last month. CCA does not attempt to separate
gang-affiliated prisoners, and inmates said keeping rival gang members in the
same unit can be dangerous when things go wrong. There has already been one
disturbance in a unit that houses gang members at Tallahatchie. On July 17,
20 cell doors in a SHIP unit popped open unexpectedly at around 2:45 a.m.,
freeing inmates. Ronnie J. Lonoaea, 32, of Hawai'i
was severely beaten in his cell before guards released tear gas and restored
order about 90 minutes later. Scott Lee of Hawai'i, who suffered a broken jaw
in the incident, recalled how some prisoners in the unit frantically tried to
close their jammed cell doors because they feared an attack by fellow
inmates. A CCA investigation concluded the cell doors probably opened because
a corrections sergeant hit the wrong control button. Komori said the sergeant
and a captain who supervised the unit no longer work at the prison.
August 23, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
A prison sergeant who hit the wrong button probably is to blame for abruptly
opening 20 cell doors in a Mississippi prison disciplinary unit last month,
releasing about three dozen Hawai'i inmates and triggering a violent
disturbance, prison officials said yesterday. Two prisoners in the
Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility unit were hospitalized after other
inmates attacked them when the cell doors opened at 2:48 a.m. on July 17. One
of the inmates, Ronnie Lonoaea, remains in a
Mississippi rehabilitative hospital with head injuries. After the doors
opened, two inmates immediately began fighting and eight others rushed into a
single cell to attack Lonoaea, prison officials
have said. Other inmates used a telephone cord to tie shut the door leading
into the unit in a makeshift barricade to keep prison officials out,
according to a report on the incident. The Tallahatchie prison staff dropped
tear gas grenades from the roof into the Special Housing Incentive Program,
or SHIP unit, and regained control of the unit about 90 minutes after the
cell doors opened, according to the report.
July 28, 2005 Honolulu
Advertiser
They're out of sight, but must not be out of mind. Hawai'i's overflow inmate
population, housed at private prisons on the Mainland, remain our
responsibility. And making sure they are treated humanely while serving their
time must be our concern. That's why state officials are right to demand an
investigation into the sudden opening of cell doors in the predawn hours of
July 17 at Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility that resulted in a riot.
More than 700 Hawai'i inmates have been housed since last year at the
Mississippi prison, owned by Corrections Corp. of America. Two inmates were
injured in the fight. Kane'ohe resident Sandra
Cooper, the mother of one inmate, has her doubts that an internal probe will
be enough to bring out the truth about how the cell doors opened. She called
on the FBI to do a thorough inquiry, and that indeed would be the ideal way
to proceed here. There's precedent for the FBI to take jurisdiction in a case
where inmates are brought across state lines. At the very least, an
independent authority should drive the investigation, rather than the
prison's private owners. And state officials here must continue to ride herd
to see that the investigation proceeds to a satisfactory conclusion. In a
separate prison issue, it's a relief to see that the state has decided to
pull the plug on its contract with the troubled Brush Correctional Facility,
a northeastern Colorado prison housing 80 women inmates from Hawai'i. Because
of ongoing investigations into alleged sexual misconduct between staff and
prisoners, it's imperative that the move be made as soon as possible, while
allowing for careful scrutiny of the prisoners' next destination. The
end-of-September target date for the move seems reasonable, assuming that the
state maintain its careful monitoring of Brush in the meantime. These painful
episodes clearly illustrate that housing inmates on the Mainland is merely a
short-term response to our critical prison shortage here, and creates its own
additional problems. Hawai'i must continue to: work toward expanded prison
capacity in the Islands, where we can retain better control of conditions;
strengthen the probation system to keep some first-time offenders out of
prison; and work on preventive strategies aimed at stemming the tide in drug
abuse, which fuels so much of the state's crime problem. Sending inmates to
the Mainland is just a stopgap solution.
July 27, 2005
Honolulu Advertiser
State prison officials said yesterday they are concerned about a security
breach at a Mississippi prison that led to a disturbance among Hawai'i
inmates and landed two men in the hospital with broken jaws. The
incident began when 20 cell doors in a unit at the Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility used to confine inmates with suspected gang
affiliations popped open unexpectedly at about 2:30 a.m. July 17. About 35 of
the 40 inmates in the unit left their cells and two of the prisoners began
fighting, said Hawai'i Department of Public Safety spokesman Michael Gaede.
While corrections officers were preoccupied with the brawl, eight inmates
rushed into a cell to attack another prisoner, Gaede said.
June 3, 2005 Pueblo
Chieftain
The 120 Colorado inmates who are serving sentences in Mississippi are being
treated inhumanely, according to one inmate. Officials at the Colorado
Department of Corrections, however, say they are treated no different than
inmates at the Colorado State Penitentiary. According to Colorado inmate
Clark Flood, 40, who has been convicted of burglary, criminal trespass and
escape charges, the inmates in Mississippi are being held in lockdown in what
he described as "inhumane conditions." "They are not giving us
property or nothing. It's just solid lockdown and it is ridiculous,"
Flood said.
February 5, 2005 Honolulu
Advertiser
A Hawai'i prisoner at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in
Tutwiler, Miss., was returned to the prison yesterday after a suicide
attempt. Convicted murderer Paul Ah Sing, 41, was rushed to the hospital
Thursday after he apparently attempted to hang himself in his cell with a
homemade rope. The state has a contract with the Corrections Corporation of
America to hold about 700 inmates at the Tallahatchie prison because there is
no room for them in Hawai'i prisons.
Officials at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility have
promised to keep residents better informed about disturbances at the prison
in the wake of last month's uprising by Colorado inmates. Residents near the
prison complained they weren't told about what was happening at the jail
during the July 21 riot when prisoners torched mattresses, clothing and a portable
toilet. (Sun Herald, August 13, 2004)
August 2, 2004
Tutwiler prison officials say they will be adding more staff this week and
will host a community meeting following a recent disturbance by unruly
Colorado inmates at the private facility. There are no plans to send
the trouble-making inmates back to Colorado, as some residents have asked,
said Louise Chickering, a spokeswoman for Nashville-based Corrections Corp.
of America, which operates the prison. She said the company also won't
go along with a request by residents to create an alert system to warn them
of future disturbances. The first major disruption at the Tallahatchie
County Correctional Facility will be discussed at an Aug. 12 meeting between
Tutwiler's community relations advisory council and Warden James Cooke.
Cooke said the additional staff is not a direct result of the
disturbance. "We will be getting more (inmates) from Hawaii,''
Cooke said. The facility now houses about 850 inmates, with a capacity of a
little more than 1,000 inmates. There are about 120 inmates from Colorado,
690 from Hawaii and 40 from Tallahatchie County. (Clarion Ledger)
Coahoma and Tallahatchie counties will pay local expenses involved in
dispatching law officers to the uprising at the privately-run prison in
Tutwiler. Coahoma County Sheriff Andrew Thompson Jr. said his
department alone spent about $400 on gasoline and overtime July 21.
Officers were called from the Coahoma and Tallahatchie sheriff's departments,
Tutwiler and Glendora police departments, the Tutwiler and Tallahatchie
County fire departments, the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the State
Penitentiary at Parchman. Steve Owen, a
spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America — the Nashville, Tenn.-based
company that runs the prison — called the disturbance in which no one was
injured "relatively small." Owen said his company does
reimburse local agencies that respond to prison riots "if the agency
feels its resources have been severely tapped." Finally, as the
largest employer in the county, CCA pays its 260 employees — most of whom
reside in Tallahatchie and surrounding counties — roughly $3.5 million
combined annually. (Clarion Ledger, July 26, 2004)
Troubles seem to
keep mounting this month for the nation's largest operator of private prisons.
Corrections Corporation of America suffered through two prison riots this
week - one in Colorado and another in Mississippi. The uprisings follow a
July 7 homicide at a Nashville facility, which is still being investigated,
and a smaller uprising in Oklahoma. The spate of bad news is providing
fodder for critics of privately run prisons and prompting a slight drop in
CCA's stock price. In the prison industry, no news is often good news.
"I think the idea of privately operated prisons is one that is still
controversial," said Richard Crane, a consultant in the industry and
former CCA attorney. "(Bad incidents) give those who are opposed to
privatization something to beat their drum about." Critics said
the string of problems shows that privately run prisons are a bad idea, and
that grouping prisoners from multiple states under the care of low-paid,
often inexperienced guards will lead to trouble. "Almost half of
the employees in the facility have no experience whatsoever," said Ken Kopczynski, with the Private Corrections Institute Inc.,
an advocacy group opposing private prisons. "I just hope enough people
will wake up to the bad idea of private prisons. It just goes against all the
principles of democracy." (Henry Herald, July 23, 2004)
Some Tutwiler residents are demanding an alert system and stronger security
measures following Wednesday night's disturbance by 28 Colorado inmates at
the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. Tutwiler resident
Lucinda Berryhill said she was "frightened not knowing" what was
happening when she heard police car sirens and fire trucks on U.S. 49 heading
toward the prison. Phone lines at the prison were busy and rumors of prison
escapes were rampant, she said. Currently, there is no system in place to
alert residents when an incident is occurring at the facility and what
measures should be taken. "I'd send the troublemakers back,'' said
Berryhill, who lives a half mile from the prison. They need to return
immediately to Colorado, she said. (Clarion Ledger, July 23, 2004)
A riot involving 28 Colorado inmates who escaped their recreation pens and
set ablaze mattresses, clothing and a portable toilet triggered a lock-down
Wednesday night at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. A
more violent riot erupted around the same time a day earlier at another CCA
prison in Colorado's Crowley County. Officials did not report a connection
between the two riots. Those involved in Wednesday's uprising were
among Colorado's "worst" inmates shipped to the Tutwiler lockup in
May. Booted from their home state after causing six riots during a
three-month period, the prisoners instigated the most recent uprising during
the first one-hour recreation break they had been given since entering the
facility two months ago. According to Louise Chickering, CCA
spokeswoman, the incident started at 6:20 p.m. when one inmate broke the lock
and chains on the segregated pen that held him and another inmate.
"Once he got it loose, the others assessed that they could, too,"
she said, explaining that 28 men broke out of their two-man pens and gathered
into the main recreation yard. Law-enforcement officials were called
from the Coahoma and Tallahatchie counties sheriff's departments, Tutwiler
and Glendora police departments, the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the
Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman "as
a show of force," Chickering said. Prison officials said Wednesday
that they didn't know yet why the inmates rioted, but one Colorado prisoner
offered a possible clue in a letter sent to The Clarksdale Press Register
this week. Harrell King Jr. III wrote that more than 100 prisoners had
waged a hunger strike recently to draw attention to their "case of
brutality and mistreatment at this facility." "Since coming
to this facility, we have had inmates cutting their wrist, being beat, having
to defecate in bags, on 24-hour lockdown and many other violations of human
rights," Harrell wrote. "By the time you receive this letter, we
will have not eaten in five days." (Z Wire, July 23, 2004)
About 28 inmates from Colorado caused an uprising Wednesday
evening at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler,
officials said. The prisoners involved were recently shipped to the Mississippi
facility to rid Colorado's crowded prisons of unruly inmates. The
disturbance occurred during the prisoners' recreation break about 6:20 p.m.
and lasted about 30 minutes, said Louise Chickering, spokeswoman for the
Corrections Corporations of America. (Clarion Ledger, July 22, 2004)
May 23, 2004
The Colorado Department of Corrections violated a state statute by sending 36
of its most dangerous inmates to the Delta, said a prisoner-advocate group
that might challenge the move in an attempt to bring the men home.
According to the statute, Colorado cannot permanently place maximum-security
inmates in a private prison. But the three dozen men shipped to the privately
run Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility near Tutwiler last week are
classified as maximum-security, said Stephen Raher,
co-director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, calling the
move illegal. Colorado officials countered that assertion, saying the
men - many of whom are serving sentences for murder, rape and escape - are
not maximum-security prisoners; they are "special management"
inmates. "We have yet to find one of these organizations or
individuals who can substantiate any of these claims, except maybe for an
isolated incident that may have occurred years ago," Owen said. "I
would challenge them to prove any of these allegations." (Z Wire)
January 7, 2004
Mississippi's corrections commissioner said he hopes the state can house
inmates at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility after 1,424 inmates
return to Alabama. On Tuesday, Alabama Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell said the inmates should be moved within 90
days. Meanwhile, Chris Epps, Mississippi corrections commissioner, said
he started talking to officials last week to find a way to use the facility
and keep about 250 jobs there. "We're going to work with them any
way we can," he said. Tallahatchie County has a poverty rate of
nearly 27 percent and a 12.5 percent unemployment rate. "We've
started looking at the law to see what we have to do to be able to use
it," Epps said. "I started talking to (Corrections Corporation of
America)." Nashville-based CCA owns the facility in
Tutwiler. Epps said he's also spoken to Gov. Haley Barbour and
legislators "to see how we can do business up there." In
2001, facility employees lost their jobs after Wisconsin inmates were moved
to Minnesota. The facility hired 250 people last summer when Alabama sent
prisoners there. (Clarion Ledger)
September 15, 2003
Elizabeth Martin can thank 1,423 Alabama prison inmates for her job.
Since the inmates landed in the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in
June, the economy of the county gained 250 jobs at the facility in a Delta
county with a 26.8 percent poverty rate with unemployment at 12.5 percent.
The annual payroll: $6 million. Alabama's decision to pay $27.50 a day
per inmate to reduce crowding in its underfunded corrections system led to
re-employment for Martin, of Tutwiler. Martin, who lost her job when
Wisconsin inmates were moved from Tutwiler to Minnesota in 2001, went from a
retired corrections officer to an administrative clerk at age 33.
"I had taken courses in computers at Coahoma Community College, not
knowing if Tallahatchie would ever re-open," Martin said. "Now I
have a better job where I make more money and I can spend more time with my
husband and four children. "I am working in a nice place with good
people, something that is hard to find in Tallahatchie County."
Richard Lias, 33, of Clarksdale left a job with a
casino in Tunica County, nearly 50 miles away, to work closer to home at
Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, about 20 miles from home.
"I am saving a lot of money on transportation," said Lias, a safety specialist. "I felt there was more
opportunity for advancement. "I have had excellent training and a
lot of doors opened for the future." Money is also finding its way
into the business community with purchases made by the prison and
employees. "Over 80 percent of the employees live in Tallahatchie
County and spend money here," said Tallahatchie County administrator
Marvin Doss. "We lost Rosewood, an apparel manufacturer (in Charleston)
since the 1950s and 134 jobs." Donna Surholt,
owner of Moore Paper and Janitorial Supply Inc. in Clarksdale, has seen the
prison dollars trickle through the Delta. "The prison officials
have purchased a vehicle, a steel building and other supplies locally when
they can't get them from their vendor," said Surholt,
who is also president of the Clarksdale-Coahoma Chamber of Commerce. "They
have bought items from my business. They have come in here ready to
contribute to our community and have joined our chamber." Dianna
Melton, manager of the State Bank and Trust in nearby Webb, has seen an
increase in business. "I have seen a number of the workers from
the prison," Melton said. "When you employ 200 people who didn't
have jobs, you will see an increase in business in the county."
The boost should continue for some time because the inmates won't leave
soon. Alabama taxpayers defeated a tax-increase referendum Tuesday that
would have helped its education and corrections systems, said Brian Corbett,
spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections. Alabama met a
court order to reduce state inmates in county jails by sending 300 females to
Louisiana and the inmates to Tallahatchie County. "We still have a
total population of 28,100, twice our capacity of 13,500," Corbett said.
"Taxpayers said no, so no help is on the way, and we will just have to
keep plugging away." Warden Jim Cook, who has seen Tallahatchie go
from 30 county inmates to 1,463 with 276 employees, knows the reason Alabama
sent the inmates. He was once a warden with the Alabama correctional
system before going to work in 1995 for Correctional Corporation of America.
The private prison company based in Nashville owns Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility. Alabama has no private prisons. "You can't
ask a corrections department with a growing population to operate on the same
funds," Cook said. "This is a high-stress job at best, but you
can't work people like they are without employee burnout. Your facilities
will also deteriorate." Cook says Alabama inmates like being in
Mississippi. "It is less crowded, facilities are better and they
like the food," Cook said. (The Clarion Ledger)
June 27, 2003
Many workers who lost their jobs at two Mississippi private prisons are going
back to work, thanks to a neighboring state. Alabama, faced with prison
overcrowding, is sending 1,400 medium-security male inmates to the Tallahatchie
Correctional Facility in Tutwiler at a cost of $27.50 a day per inmate.
Tallahatchie, built to hold 1,100, held 322 inmates from Wisconsin and
employed 208 people before those inmates were moved to Minnesota in 2001,
forcing layoffs. It has since held 30-40 Tallahatchie County inmates.
Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, closed by the state in October
2002, held 800 state inmates and employed 200 workers with a $5 million
annual payroll. "It is good for the economy of the state,"
said Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps, who said CCA's contract
with Alabama is for three years. Alabama, which has no private prisons,
is under two court orders to end overcrowding. Steve Owens, spokesman
for Corrections Corporation of America, said his company will help
Alabama. "We are always happy to step up and serve states when
they need our help," Owens said. "I always knew we would find
someone who could use the Tallahatchie facility." (The Clarion
Ledger)
Tutwiler
Prison for Women
Wetumpka, Mississippi
Prison Health Services
Tallahatchie Correctional Facility
Tutwiler, Mississippi
CCA
March 12 2006 AP
A group of Colorado inmates who started a riot at a private prison in
Mississippi in 2004 so they could be transferred back to Colorado will force
lawmakers to review their policy that allowed the Department of Corrections
to ship troublemakers out of state. This week, The House Judiciary Committee
holds a hearing on a measure (Senate Bill 23) prohibiting the Department of
Corrections from placing state inmates classified higher than medium custody
in private prison facilities located within Colorado or outside the state.
The only exception would allow the governor to declare a correctional
emergency and by proclamation authorize the department to place state inmates
classified higher than medium custody in private prison facilities. Rep. Val
Vigil, D-Thornton, said an audit last year revealed that the state had no
policy on shipping high risk inmates out of state, and that other states have
no uniform way they treat low, medium or high risk prisoners. “We had to
decide whether we should change the practice or change the statutes. We
decided to change the statutes,” Vigil said. The disturbance occurred a day
after a similar riot at Crowley Correctional Facility, a private prison near
Olney Springs, Colo. At Crowley, inmates rioted and set fires, destroying one
living unit and extensively damaging four others. Both private prisons were
operated by Corrections Corp. of America, which was criticized by lawmakers
for not hiring enough employees at the Crowley facility. Rep. Buffie
McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, said Colorado has a duty to protect its inmates, and
the state can’t guarantee that when it sends them to other states which have
their own rules. “One thing government has to do is ensure public safety.
That includes inmates,” McFadyen said.
December 26, 2005 Honolulu
Advertiser
Acting Public Safety Director Frank Lopez has ordered a prison system
internal affairs investigation into a violent disturbance in a Mississippi
prison earlier this year that resulted in injuries to two Hawai'i inmates.
The incident at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Center began when 20
cell doors in a prison disciplinary unit abruptly opened at 2:48 a.m. on July
17, releasing about three dozen Hawai'i inmates from their cells. The unit
was reserved for particularly unruly convicts or prison gang members, and
some of the inmates who emerged from their cells immediately attacked
prisoner Ronnie Lonoaea in his cell, prison officials
have said. Lonoaea was hospitalized after the
attack with head and other injuries, and inmate Scott Lee, 25, suffered a
broken jaw in the disturbance. Inmates used a telephone cord to tie shut the
entrance to the Special Housing Incentive Program unit to keep corrections
officers out, and Tallahatchie prison staff had to drop tear gas grenades
from the roof to regain control of the unit about 90 minutes later. Hawai'i
Department of Public Safety officials demanded a "high level"
investigation of the incident, and Lopez said prison owner Corrections
Corporation of America submitted a letter to the state outlining the
company's findings. Lopez said the summary of the CCA findings suggested the
doors opened because an officer accidentally pushed the wrong button. Prison
officials have said a relief sergeant pushed the button that released the
inmates, and both the sergeant and the captain responsible for overseeing the
unit no longer work at the prison.
October 3, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
This tiny town has a slow feel to it. Some of that is a testament to southern
graciousness, when people make time for one another. Some of it is due to a
menacing apathy that festers when people are out on the street with nowhere
to go. This community in the North Delta region, described in federal reports
as one of the most depressed areas of the country, is where the Corrections
Corp. of America built the 1,104-bed Tallahatchie County Correctional
Facility in 2000. The prison holds more than 850 Hawai'i inmates. The 325
jobs at the prison offer the best-paying work around, said chief of security
Danny Dodd. CCA's starting pay in Tutwiler is about $8.40 an hour,
considerably less than the $13.20 an hour for new corrections officers in
Hawai'i, but Dodd said there is no shortage of applicants. There is
significant staff turnover, which means the prison is often short-handed.
Tutwiler resident Mary Meeks said her husband pulls double shifts at the
prison as often as twice a week because people quit or don't show up for work.
Some residents said they were led to believe the Tallahatchie County
Correctional Facility would hold only Mississippi lawbreakers, and were
alarmed to learn the company was importing prisoners. Contract monitors last
year described the Mississippi staff as young and inexperienced, and said
most had never worked in a prison before. CCA requires five weeks of
training, compared with eight weeks for Hawai'i corrections officers.
According to monitoring reports, in the first six months after the Hawai'i inmates
arrived, several employees were fired for smuggling cigarettes into the
prison and having inappropriate relationships with inmates - a problem that
has arisen at other Mainland prisons where Hawai'i prisoners have been held.
Inmates complain about the medical and dental services at Tallahatchie,
gripes that were confirmed last year when Hawai'i prison monitors warned CCA
the prison was failing to meet National Commission on Correctional Health
Care Standards because a doctor was there only eight hours a week to care for
almost 1,000 convicts. In May, the monitors warned that dental services were
insufficient because a dentist was available only eight hours a week, but the
backlog of inmates waiting for dental care had been somewhat reduced when
inspectors returned last month. CCA does not attempt to separate
gang-affiliated prisoners, and inmates said keeping rival gang members in the
same unit can be dangerous when things go wrong. There has already been one
disturbance in a unit that houses gang members at Tallahatchie. On July 17,
20 cell doors in a SHIP unit popped open unexpectedly at around 2:45 a.m.,
freeing inmates. Ronnie J. Lonoaea, 32, of Hawai'i
was severely beaten in his cell before guards released tear gas and restored
order about 90 minutes later. Scott Lee of Hawai'i, who suffered a broken jaw
in the incident, recalled how some prisoners in the unit frantically tried to
close their jammed cell doors because they feared an attack by fellow
inmates. A CCA investigation concluded the cell doors probably opened because
a corrections sergeant hit the wrong control button. Komori said the sergeant
and a captain who supervised the unit no longer work at the prison.
August 23, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
A prison sergeant who hit the wrong button probably is to blame for abruptly
opening 20 cell doors in a Mississippi prison disciplinary unit last month,
releasing about three dozen Hawai'i inmates and triggering a violent
disturbance, prison officials said yesterday. Two prisoners in the
Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility unit were hospitalized after other
inmates attacked them when the cell doors opened at 2:48 a.m. on July 17. One
of the inmates, Ronnie Lonoaea, remains in a
Mississippi rehabilitative hospital with head injuries. After the doors
opened, two inmates immediately began fighting and eight others rushed into a
single cell to attack Lonoaea, prison officials
have said. Other inmates used a telephone cord to tie shut the door leading
into the unit in a makeshift barricade to keep prison officials out,
according to a report on the incident. The Tallahatchie prison staff dropped
tear gas grenades from the roof into the Special Housing Incentive Program,
or SHIP unit, and regained control of the unit about 90 minutes after the
cell doors opened, according to the report.
July 28, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
They're out of sight, but must not be out of mind. Hawai'i's overflow inmate
population, housed at private prisons on the Mainland, remain our
responsibility. And making sure they are treated humanely while serving their
time must be our concern. That's why state officials are right to demand an
investigation into the sudden opening of cell doors in the predawn hours of
July 17 at Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility that resulted in a riot.
More than 700 Hawai'i inmates have been housed since last year at the
Mississippi prison, owned by Corrections Corp. of America. Two inmates were
injured in the fight. Kane'ohe resident Sandra
Cooper, the mother of one inmate, has her doubts that an internal probe will
be enough to bring out the truth about how the cell doors opened. She called
on the FBI to do a thorough inquiry, and that indeed would be the ideal way
to proceed here. There's precedent for the FBI to take jurisdiction in a case
where inmates are brought across state lines. At the very least, an
independent authority should drive the investigation, rather than the
prison's private owners. And state officials here must continue to ride herd
to see that the investigation proceeds to a satisfactory conclusion. In a
separate prison issue, it's a relief to see that the state has decided to
pull the plug on its contract with the troubled Brush Correctional Facility,
a northeastern Colorado prison housing 80 women inmates from Hawai'i. Because
of ongoing investigations into alleged sexual misconduct between staff and
prisoners, it's imperative that the move be made as soon as possible, while
allowing for careful scrutiny of the prisoners' next destination. The
end-of-September target date for the move seems reasonable, assuming that the
state maintain its careful monitoring of Brush in the meantime. These painful
episodes clearly illustrate that housing inmates on the Mainland is merely a
short-term response to our critical prison shortage here, and creates its own
additional problems. Hawai'i must continue to: work toward expanded prison
capacity in the Islands, where we can retain better control of conditions;
strengthen the probation system to keep some first-time offenders out of
prison; and work on preventive strategies aimed at stemming the tide in drug
abuse, which fuels so much of the state's crime problem. Sending inmates to
the Mainland is just a stopgap solution.
July 27, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser
State prison officials said yesterday they are concerned about a security
breach at a Mississippi prison that led to a disturbance among Hawai'i
inmates and landed two men in the hospital with broken jaws. The
incident began when 20 cell doors in a unit at the Tallahatchie County Correctional
Facility used to confine inmates with suspected gang affiliations popped open
unexpectedly at about 2:30 a.m. July 17. About 35 of the 40 inmates in the
unit left their cells and two of the prisoners began fighting, said Hawai'i
Department of Public Safety spokesman Michael Gaede. While corrections
officers were preoccupied with the brawl, eight inmates rushed into a cell to
attack another prisoner, Gaede said.
June 3, 2005 Pueblo Chieftain
The 120 Colorado inmates who are serving sentences in Mississippi are being
treated inhumanely, according to one inmate. Officials at the Colorado
Department of Corrections, however, say they are treated no different than
inmates at the Colorado State Penitentiary. According to Colorado inmate
Clark Flood, 40, who has been convicted of burglary, criminal trespass and
escape charges, the inmates in Mississippi are being held in lockdown in what
he described as "inhumane conditions." "They are not giving us
property or nothing. It's just solid lockdown and it is ridiculous,"
Flood said.
May 7, 2005 AP
The third death of an inmate in two months at Tutwiler Prison for Women
has raised more questions about the quality of care provided for prisoners.
Officials said Mattie Bouie, 42, died last week at Baptist Hospital South in
Montgomery - six months after a federal court monitor cited her case as an
example of "no effective physician monitoring of patients" at the
Wetumpka prison. Bouie's death was the sixth at the women's prison since
Tennessee-based Prison Health Services took over the medical contract. Court
monitor Dr. Michael Puisis has suggested that
negligent care was responsible for at least two deaths. He has not released
mortality reports on the other cases. Puisis was
appointed by a federal court last year after the state settled a lawsuit over
poor conditions and medical care at the prison. The Department of Corrections
agreed to improvements and increased staff at the facility, and Puisis is responsible for monitoring the agency's
progress toward achieving those goals.
May 6, 2005 Birmingham News
Prison Health Services has been under the gun, and rightly so, for the
way it's provided medical care to Alabama inmates. The Tennessee-based
company was hired to improve health care in Alabama prisons, which had been
sued over services provided by a previous contractor. But the care in prisons
remains unacceptable. A recurring theme is a shortage of doctors, nurses and
other staff to tend to the inmates, with predictable consequences. At best,
the care has been inadequate. At worst, it may have been downright deadly.
The state of Alabama, which has the ultimate responsibility (and liability)
for what happens to prisoners in its custody, has every reason to demand
better from Prison Health Services. And withholding part of the company's
payment is an appropriate place to start. The state is reducing the company's
$143 million contract by $1.2 million for staffing shortages, and may cut
more if staffing levels aren't increased. Why not? The state is paying Prison
Health Services to provide a certain number of professionals and support
staff to administer inmates' health care. If the company is not meeting the
requirements of the contract, it should not expect to be paid as if it were.
Besides, what's really at stake here is bigger than money. Too many inmates
are not receiving proper care for chronic conditions, and some are dying
unnecessarily as a result, according to doctors who monitor prison health
care for the courts. At the Tutwiler women's prison, the monitor found that
three inmates who died last year received poor or incomplete care, and two of
them may have died as a result. At Limestone Correctional Facility, which
houses HIV-positive inmates, the monitor found prisoners weren't getting
crucial medication and that a required HIV specialist was not on staff. It's
true that turnover has been a big problem. Prison Health Services has had
problems retaining doctors and other health care workers; some have left
complaining they didn't have the resources to do their jobs. But the bottom
line is that the company agreed to provide a certain level of services, and
it has been failing to do so. At the very least, the state should adjust the
payments to Prison Health Services accordingly. So the company is losing
dollars. Inmates are losing their lives.
May 5, 2005 Birmingham News
Alabama's prison medical provider is losing $1.2 million from the state
because it has not provided enough doctors and nurses to state prisons.
Prison Health Services has not fulfilled minimal contract requirements that
call for a certain number of doctors, nurses, administrators and support
staff. The company is not being fined, Department of Corrections spokesman
Brian Corbett said, but DOC will not have to pay $1.2 million of its
contract. The department hired PHS in November 2003. The company's
three-year, $143 million contract could see more reductions if the medical
staff does not increase. Tennessee-based Prison Health Services also has come
under fire in recent months by physicians who are monitoring two prisons
under federal court settlements. A lawsuit alleging inadequate medical care
is pending at a third prison, the Hamilton Aged and Infirm facility, where
the oldest, sickest men are housed. Dr. Michael Puisis,
court monitor at Tutwiler Prison for Women, said in a March report that
prison medical staff provided poor or incomplete care to three inmates who
died last year. He suggested that negligence might have led to two of those
deaths. The third, a suicide, was likely the result of inadequate care by
mental health workers, who are employed by a different company. Two deaths
since then are still under investigation. Still, attorneys for the Limestone
inmates have asked the federal courts to hold the state in contempt for
failing to abide by the conditions of the settlement. Last year, the state
agreed to dozens of improvements, centering on added medical staff and more
humane housing conditions. Doctors keep leaving, some after claiming PHS did
not allow them the flexibility and resources to practice medicine as they
want to do. "There are just as many complaints raised after the
settlement as before," said Gretchen Rohr, an attorney with the
Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights, who represents Alabama
prisons in both cases.
April 26, 2005 Mobile Register
Poor, incomplete, substandard -- and perhaps error-ridden -- medical care led
to the deaths of at least three women incarcerated at Tutwiler Prison for
Women last year, emphasizing the need for improved health care in Alabama's
prisons. It also suggests the physician who treated the women should be
suspended while officials determine if he was at fault; and if he was, he
should be fired. Moreover, the poor health care the women apparently received
indicates the state should consider finding a different health services
company. The staggering conclusions by a physician who monitors the prison's
medical system for a federal court settlement were revealed by the Birmingham
News last week, and implicate Dr. Samuel Englehardt,
a retired obstetrician and primary care doctor at Tutwiler at the time of the
three deaths. Two other deaths have occurred this year, and officials should
speedily investigate those, too. Outrageously, Dr. Englehardt,
who provided the health care for one of the three prisoners who died last
year, also performed her death review and concluded that there were no
problems with the health care she had received. A policy of independent
reviews would prevent such conflicts of interest. Dr. Michael Puisis of Illinois, an expert in correctional health
care, studied the three women's deaths for a federal court. He discovered one
patient suffered a brain hemorrhage and died a few months after Dr. Englehardt canceled tests recommended by an outside
cardiologist. Another woman's extremely high cholesterol wasn't treated and
"unquestionably contributed to her death." A third -- an obviously
distraught woman who was denied adequate psychiatric care -- committed
suicide. Dr. Puisis also found that other Tutwiler
inmates received substandard care at the prison, including a lack of
follow-up on treatments and mistakes in prescribing drugs. The inmates
deserved better health care. When the state confines a person in a prison,
preventing her from taking care of herself, then the state assumes the responsibility
for the inmate's medical care. That's part of the cost of incarcerating
people, and the moral duty it entails cannot be avoided. State officials must
hold both the Department of Corrections and its private contractor, Prison
Health Services of Tennessee, accountable for these and other lapses; and the
public must hold the Legislature accountable for failing to provide funding
for an adequate corrections system. The poor health care alone has subjected
the state to three lawsuits so far from prisoners at Tutwiler, Limestone and
Donaldson prisons. Moreover, it has exposed the state to possible suits by
families of deceased prisoners. Department of Corrections managers apparently
did not monitor the care provided by PHS or, if they did, they ignored or
missed problems that should have been evident. The state, its taxpayers and
its prisoners deserve better.
April 24, 2005 Birmingham News
Three women who died at Tutwiler prison last year received bad medical
care - perhaps even bad enough in two of the cases to be blamed in the
deaths. That's the conclusion of Dr. Michael Puisis
of Illinois, an expert in correctional health care who was hired by a federal
court to monitor Tutwiler's health care services for inmates. Specifically, Puisis found: The primary prison doctor at the time had
"grossly mismanaged" the underlying medical problems of an inmate
who suffered from lupus and died of a brain hemorrhage in March 2004. Her
death came a few months after the doctor, for no clinical reason, canceled
tests that had been recommended by an outside cardiologist. Another inmate
received substandard care for three chronic conditions, including high cholesterol
that went untreated and "unquestionably contributed to her death."
After she died in August, the doctor responsible for her "substandard
care" performed the death review and noted no problems with her
treatment. An inmate hanged herself after being on suicide watch for five
days in January 2004. The day before she died, she was crying, saying
"Daddy, don't hurt me anymore," and banging her head against the
wall. Yet she was not evaluated by a mental health professional except for a
phone call to a psychiatrist who prescribed medicine. These kinds of stories
hardly inspire confidence in the Department of Corrections or its medical
contractor, Prison Health Services. And unfortunately, the cases aren't just
extreme examples. In 19 of 22 cases Puisis reviewed
at Tutwiler, he found problems with followup, drug
errors and substandard care. Women with HIV, staph infections, diabetes and
other conditions were consistently denied treatment, he said. His findings
are simply alarming - especially if, as the Department of Corrections and
Prison Health Services contend, inmate health care services are better now
than they used to be. But scariest of all is that the department and PHS are
now trying to keep Puisis' reports away from public
view. The reports have typically been filed with the court and made public by
the Southern Center for Human Rights, the Atlanta-based law firm representing
prisoners in a lawsuit over health care. Now, the state and its medical
contractor want to keep the reports confidential. That's absurd. The need for
scrutiny is obvious: Inmates aren't getting proper health care, and some may
be dying as a result. The problems need to be brought to light so they can be
fixed. But keeping the monitor reports secret would be a bad idea even if they
were glowing tributes to the health care services provided to inmates at
Tutwiler. Alabama taxpayers are footing the bill for the prison system and
for PHS' $143 million contract, and they have every right to know whether
their money is being well-spent. If Gov. Bob Riley is serious about
accountability, he shouldn't stand for his prison commissioner working to
keep such information out of the hands of citizens.
April 21, 2005 Tuscaloosa News
Negligence and medical errors may have led to two of three inmate deaths
last year at Tutwiler Prison for Women, according to a report by a physician
and court monitor of the prison's medical system. Dr. Michael Puisis of Illinois, an expert in correctional health
care, based his report on visits to the Wetumpka prison March 7-10. He
reviewed records, interviewed staff and toured parts of the Wetumpka prison.
His report, obtained by The Birmingham News and disclosed Thursday, was
required by a 2004 federal court settlement of a lawsuit over crowded
conditions and medical care at Alabama's only prison for women. With current
patients, Puisis reported that private contractor
Prison Health Services lacked follow-up, made mistakes in prescribing drugs
and gave substandard care to 19 of 22 prisoners whose charts he reviewed.
Women with HIV, staph infections, diabetes and other conditions were
consistently denied treatment, he wrote. Two more women have died at
Tutwiler this year, and their deaths are under investigation. Puisis has yet to review those cases. Dr. Samuel Englehardt, a retired obstetrician and the primary doctor
at Tutwiler at the time of the review, worked there before PHS took over and
was retained by the company. "Based on chart reviews, Dr. Englehardt should not be providing general internal
medical care to the patients," the report states. Among the mistakes the
report cited in the three deaths: -"This patient's underlying medical
conditions were grossly mismanaged," Puisis
wrote about one woman, a lupus patient who suffered a brain hemorrhage and
died in March 2004, a few months after Englehardt
canceled tests recommended by an outside cardiologist. "There is no
clinical basis for this decision," Puisis
wrote. -"Care (of three chronic conditions) was substandard and may have
contributed to her death," Puisis wrote about
a prisoner who died in August. Her hyperlipidemia, a form of high
cholesterol, was untreated and "unquestionably contributed to her
death," he wrote. This woman needed to go to a hospital, he wrote, but
instead was kept in the prison infirmary and was not seen regularly by a
doctor. -The third inmate hanged herself while on suicide watch. She was on
suicide watch for five days, but was not evaluated by a mental health
professional except for a phone call to a psychiatrist who prescribed medication.
On Jan. 24, 2004, the woman was crying, saying, "Daddy, don't hurt me
anymore," and was banging her head against a wall, a nurse reported. The
next day she hanged herself. "It appears that the record is either
incomplete or she was not seen for the duration of her suicide watch until
she died," Puisis wrote. "This type of
death review is inadequate and leaves many unanswered questions." In the
report, Puisis discusses the publicity issue. While
fear of liability keeps doctors from reporting errors and is
counterproductive to improving care, "on the other hand some errors are
due to negligence and gross incompetence," Puisis
wrote.
Walnut Grove Correctional Facility
Walnut Grove, Mississippi
MTC (formerly run by GEO Group, bought Cornell Corporations)
MDOC Sticks with Private Prisons: Jackson
Free Press, June 13, 2012. MDOC chooses MTC to take over where GEO
failed. What are they smoking?
"A Picture of Such Horror as Should Be Unrealized
Anywhere in the Civilized World": by Margaret Winter, National Prison
Project, March 29, 2012. Overview of Federal Judge Carleton Reeves settlement
decree against the State of Mississippi for its lack of oversight at GEO's Walnut
Grove Correctional Facility.
CHARLESTON
DEPRIEST, VS. CHRISTOPHER EPPS, Commissioner of the MDOC, and TOM BURNHAM,
Superintendent of the Mississippi State Department of Education:
March 26, 2012, 8 pages. Scathing ruling against MDOC and the GEO Group for
abuse at the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility. Must read.
Town Relies On Troubled Youth Prison For Profits:
by John Burnett, March 25, 2011: NPR report on GEO. Must read.
Oct 4, 2016 chicagotribune.com
Municipal prison bonds turn to junk as inmate population falls
The privately run prison in Walnut Grove, Mississippi, was besieged for
years by violence and legal fights over deplorable conditions. Then last
month, with local sentencing reforms keeping fewer behind bars, officials
shut it down, leaving the state on the hook for $121 million of debt left
behind. "The taxpayers are paying for that building and it's just
sitting there," said Chip Jones, an alderman for the 1,600-person town
about 63 miles (101 kilometers) east of Jackson, the state capital. The
closing is part of a shift taking place nationwide among states and local
governments that have sold $30 billion of bonds to build prisons and jails,
some of which were leased to for-profit operators. With officials
re-evaluating tough-on-crime laws that caused inmate populations to soar and
the federal government moving to jettison its use of private prisons, the
reduced need for such facilities is rippling through a niche of the $3.8
trillion municipal-securities market. On Friday, a Texas prison that serves
as a U.S. detention center had its credit rating cut to junk by S&P Global Ratings, joining half a dozen others
that were downgraded below investment grade by the company since federal
officials in August announced plans to phase out for-profit facilities. About
$300 million of tax-exempt debt issued for almost two dozen prisons has
already defaulted, and investors are demanding higher yields on other
securities amid speculation the distress will spread. "At any point
there are only so many prisoners out there to fill the private prison
beds," said Matt Fabian, managing director for Municipal Market
Analytics Inc. "It creates unequal distribution and you have prisons
competing against one another." The number of Americans behind bars has
been on a steady decline. After peaking at 1.62 million in 2009, the state
and federal prison population dropped over the next five years, reducing it
by 54,000, or 3 percent, by 2014, the most recent year for which figures are
available, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. It's not
certain that such reductions will continue, said Daniel Hanson, an analyst
who follows the municipal-bond market for Height Securities in Washington.
Even with the decrease, some federal prisons are still over capacity and
states may already have done much of what they can to keep non-violent
offenders out of their penal systems, he said. "The low hanging fruit of
criminal-justice reform is already done," said Hanson. At the federal
level, the impact is poised to trickle down. The Department of Justice on
Aug. 18 said it will cancel or scale back the scope of private prison
contracts after the number of federal inmates fell by about 25,000 over the
past three years. About two weeks later, the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, which houses immigration detainees in privately run facilities,
said it will review whether to curb their use too. Such a step would
jeopardize the repayment of local-government bonds issued for prisons, which
are typically repaid with revenue from leasing them instead of with taxpayer
money. Since August, S&P has lowered to
junk debt issued by, among others, the Washington Economic Development
Financing Authority, the Garza County Public Facility Corp. in Texas, and the
La Paz County Industrial Development Authority in Arizona. The prices of some
securities have tumbled, pushing up the yields as investors demand higher compensation
for the risk. The yield on bonds issued for the Reeves County detention
center in Pecos, Texas, which mature in 2021 and were among those downgraded,
rose to as much as 6.4 percent last month from 4.6 percent in early August.
Additional closures could spread the impact. In Florence, Arizona, a
31,000-resident town southeast of Phoenix, the seven prisons -- four of which
are privately-run -- are a major employer, said Jess Knudson, town spokesman.
One of them is an immigration facility that could be hit if Homeland Security
follows Justice's lead. "Our ability to influence that decision doesn't
exist," Knudson said. The Mississippi Department of Corrections closed
the Walnut Grove prison because of budget constraints and the number of inmates,
with the annual average population dropping by about 10.5 percent between
fiscal 2011 and 2016, bond documents show. The decline was driven in part by
the passage of criminal-justice reform that gave judges more discretion over
sentencing, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, which partnered with a
state task force to push the 2014 law. The measure is projected to save the
state $266 million over 10 years while also "safely reducing" the
number of inmates, the group said. With less need for prison beds, Mississippi
chose to shut down a facility that had a troubled history under former
operator Geo Group. After it was sued by inmates, the Justice Department
faulted it in 2012 for widespread staff misconduct and deliberate
indifference to the welfare of the young offenders housed there. A federal
judge said the description of life inside painted "a picture of such
horror as should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized world."
Mississippi said it has been pleased with Management and Training Corp., the
for profit company that took over Geo Group after the Justice Department
investigation. The prison was closed last month and its 900 inmates were
moved to other facilities. Mississippi still owes $121 million of debt for
Walnut Grove, which the department of corrections has an "absolute and
unconditional" obligation to pay off, according to bond documents. There
state is considering using the emptied prison for another purpose.
"Anything's better than nothing," said Jones, the local alderman. "The
taxpayers are paying for that building, and it's just sitting there."
Sep 16, 2016 jacksonfreepress.com
Grove Prison is Officially Closed
The Walnut Grove Correctional Facility in Leake
County closed today after years of allegations of sexual abuse, illicit drugs
and physical abuse of inmates by correctional officers, which eventually led
to the removal of youth from the facility. The closing comes in the wake of
the federal government’s announcement that it is pulling back from using
private prisons. #The Management and Training Corporation owned Walnut Grove,
one of the state’s four private prisons, and will continue to operate the
other three. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued over conditions at Walnut
Grove in 2010. The prison then housed minors who were convicted of adult
crimes. #“Some prison staff exploit youth by selling drugs inside the
facility,” the 2010 complaint read. “Other staff members abuse their power by
engaging in sexual relationships with youth in their care. Many youth have
suffered physical injuries, some serious and some permanent.” #The lawsuit
led to a 2012 consent decree that established specific protocols for caring
for youth inside Walnut Grove, and ultimately let
to the removal of all youth from the facility. The State had removed “Close
Custody” inmates, who needed armed or close supervision, from the facility by
the end of 2014, court monitor reports show. #In June 2016, MDOC Commissioner
Marshall Fisher announced that Walnut Grove would close due to “budget
constraints and the prison population.” In early August, 720 inmates were
still at Walnut Grove, 125 by Sept. 11, and today there are none. #Litigation
with the facility is not ending just because the facility is closing,
however. #Jody Owens, managing attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center,
says that private prisons do not present a better alternative to state-run
facilities. #“The concept is crime and punishment: you do the crime, you do
the time,” Owens told the Jackson Free Press. “If not, you do the crime, you
do time, and you come out worse than when you went in. That was not the
goal—that was never the goal, and that’s what we continue to see in private
facilities.” #Owens said Mississippi doesn’t need as many prisons here as
people once thought, given the decline in the state’s prison population. He
credited Gov. Phil Bryant and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves with making wise decisions
on criminal-justice reform in recent years. #“They’ve been able to examine
our (inmate) population and realize that it wasn’t right-sized it
was—purposely through bad laws in the books—oversized, and they have worked
very diligently over the last three or four years (to fix it),” Owens said.
#Owens said it is not outside the realm of possibility to close another
facility in the next few years. He echoed what Commissioner Fisher told
lawmakers earlier this month—that hopefully MDOC can use its current budget
to invest in more programs to help rehabilitate and re-integrate inmates back
into their community. #“I hope this is not just a savings for the state MDOC,
but a better investment in the people coming out (of prisons),” Owens said.
#The state will continue to pay off the bond on Walnut Grove Correctional
Facility, the most costly private prison in the state. By 2028, the full bond
for Walnut Grove ($153.98 million) should be paid off. While no one
responsible for Allen Correctional Center has answered to these claims,
employees are left wondering what to do. Guards with years of experience and
degrees in criminal justice, who were hoping for a career - not just a job,
are now looking elsewhere for work."If things
don't get better, honestly I think they should shut down," said the
guard, who's openly searching for a new job.
Jul 10, 2016 clarionledger.com
Walnut Grove: Prison loss 'devastating
Uncertainty hangs in the air of Walnut Grove, a community bracing itself
for the loss of its largest employer this fall. The state’s decision to close
the privately run Walnut Grove prison, which under federal oversight since
2012 for its conditions, will leave the tiny town facing a precipitous drop
in revenue as many residents look for work. “We were getting our good
reputation back, and this has just been devastating,” Mayor Brian Gomillion said. Citing budget cuts and a declining number
of inmates, the Mississippi Department of Corrections announced it would
close the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility in September and transfer its
900 inmates to state-run prisons. The closure will mean about 200 fewer jobs
in a town with a population that hovers around 500, and loss of revenue that
will lead to furloughs and pay cuts for city employees. “There are so many
people that drive in from surrounding counties, and these people have rented
houses or bought houses in Walnut Grove,” Gomillion
said. “People have worked over there since it opened (in 2001) and since it’s
gone through these management changes. If all they’ve been is in the
correction business and the nearest prison is an hour or even two hours away,
that’s not practical at the salaries they make, and they have to move their
families.” Not every prison employee lives in Walnut Grove, but they have an
impact on local businesses during their commutes in and out of town. “If you
don’t have people in town, you’re not going to sell them something to eat at
lunch,” Bank of Walnut Grove President Ray Britt said. “You’re not going to
sell them gasoline when they’re on their way home or you’re not going to have
people come to the door.” The revenue loss will force the town’s 12 employees
to begin a furlough once a week and police to take a $2-per-hour pay cut.
Kashia Zollicoffer, owner of Urban Country Kitchen,
expects the biggest impact to her business to be during furlough days, when
city employees off work won’t come in for lunch. But her main concern is the
impact to the town as a whole and the families who will be affected. “There
will be a change,” Zollicoffer said. “A lot of
people hear ‘Walnut Grove’ and think of the prison.” At Walnut Grove Medical
Clinic, Dr. James Lock’s patients who work at the prison will lose their
health insurance unless they can purchase it independently or find other
work. “I’ve seen them a number of years, and they are surely concerned,” he
said. “I think some of them may be in denial. They think it’s not going to
leave. I’m not a government official, but I think maybe Mississippi people
should support them from the state level.” The state pays Management and
Training Corp. $14.6 million per year to operate the prison, which is one of
four facilities the company runs in Mississippi. While building the private
prisons, the state racked up $195 million in debt. The Walnut Grove prison
was presented to the community as an opportunity for jobs after the departure
of several manufacturing plants. A shirt manufacturing and a glove maker
closed several years ago and moved their operations overseas. It was touted
as "recession proof." The city annexed the land where the prison
was built in 1999 and later expanded. But the prison’s dismal conditions,
with rampant violence, drug smuggling, inmate abuse and denial of basic
services, led to a lawsuit that eventually placed the facility under federal
oversight. Although MDOC argued last year in court that the prison had made significant
progress and it no longer needed oversight, a federal judge disagreed, and
the consent decree remained in place. About a year and a half ago, MDOC
reduced Walnut Grove’s inmate population, and about 100 prison employees were
laid off, Gomillion said. “We had already been
impacted by MDOC cuts,” he said. The prison is the backbone of the town’s
budget, which will lose $180,000 per year that it received from MTC in lieu
of ad valorem taxes, as well as utility payments. “We had a new well drilled
exclusively for the prison, a water tank built for the prison, gas
infrastructure built to the facility that the town doesn’t need otherwise,
sewer projects built for the facility,” Gomillion
said. “These are all things we’ve got to maintain despite there being no
revenue from this facility.” Much of the funds the town received from the
prison went toward Walnut Grove’s police force, which responds to issues at
the prison. “Until this company came in and got things settled down, police
officers had to spend a lot of time at the facility,” Gomillion
said. “It wasn’t like we were just given that money. We were earning it.”
Walnut Grove’s situation is not unique, as states’ budgetary limitations and
fewer incarcerations have forced prison closures across the country. Six
states shut down or considered closing 20 prisons in 2013, according to The
Sentencing Project’s most recent study on the topic. “Our hope is that there
will be some way, shape, form or fashion that that facility will be used for
something that will create some jobs,” Britt said. “What that’s going to be,
I don’t think anyone has any idea … but it would be awfully difficult to see
a facility that is that nice just sit there and … rust down.”
Jun 11, 2016 clarionledger.com
MDOC closing private Walnut Grove prison
Mississippi will close the troubled, privately run Walnut Grove
Correctional Facility in Leake County due to budget
cuts and a shrinking inmate population, state Corrections Commissioner
Marshall Fisher said iFriday. “MDOC’s budget is
lower than we anticipated,” Fisher said in a news release. “Pursuant to an
intensive budget review and evaluation, we have determined this is the most
prudent action. We have space in our state-run prisons to house the 900
inmates at Walnut Grove.” Mississippi's prison population in 2013 climbed to
22,600, the second highest per capita in the nation. But recent criminal
justice reforms passed by state lawmakers, including reforms in sentencing
and probation, have reduced prison population. As of Friday it was 19,394,
and at one point last year had dropped to about 18,900. MDOC, like most other
state agencies, has seen budget cuts for the current and coming years,
including a $16.8 million, or 5 percent, cut for the fiscal year that starts
July 1. The closing of the prison is just one in a series of programs that
have been terminated under Fisher’s administration within the last year and a
half. Fifteen regional jails have closed, and others have been minimized to
“contractual obligations. Four community work centers have closed, and the
paid Joint State County Work Program has ended. “We are continually assessing
MDOC’s operation,” Fisher said in the release. “While the focus is on being
fiscally responsible, public safety remains our No. 1 priority." Mississippi
taxpayers are still footing the bill for $195 million in debt on four private
prisons, including Walnut Grove. Records from last year showed the state
still owed more than $90 million on Walnut Grove. Jody Owens, attorney for
the Southern Poverty Law Center's Mississippi office, said closure of the
Walnut Grove prison is "long overdue." “Walnut Grove Correctional
Facility has long represented a failed approach to public safety that wasted
taxpayer dollars and left Mississippi’s landscape dotted with far too many
prisons." Owens said. "As our state has adopted more effective ways
to ensure public safety, our prisons have become increasingly populated by
empty beds. Maintaining these facilities benefits no one other than
for-profit prison operators. We urge state officials to take a closer look at
other prisons for closure.” The private prison is currently operated by
Management & Training Corp. at an annual contract rate of $14.6 million.
It has been under federal court oversight since a 2012 consent decree. The
consent decree was settlement of a 2010 lawsuit against the Mississippi
Department of Corrections over conditions at the 1,260-bed prison. Plaintiffs
alleged severe and systemic violence at the facility, which at the time held
mostly youth. Among the allegations in the initial 2010 federal court
complaint: guards smuggling drugs to inmates, having sex with inmates and
denying medical treatment and basic educational services to inmates. One
inmate died after lacking access to diabetes medication. Another committed
suicide. Utah-based MTC did not operate the prison at the time, and the
company and Fisher had argued last year that conditions had improved in 2015
and it should no longer be under the oversight. U.S. District Judge Carlton
Reeves, however, found in a June 2015 ruling that not enough time had passed
to prove improvements will stick. He ruled the prison was still so unsafe
that it violates inmates' constitutional right to be free from cruel and
unusual punishment. Reeves cited gang activity, cell doors that still didn't
lock securely and continued problems with providing enough adequately trained
guards. In 2014, Walnut Grove saw two riots involving hundreds of inmates,
sending a number to the hospital for severe injuries. MTC issued a news release
Friday on the closure, saying it will continue its partnership with the state
in running the East Mississippi, Marshall County and Wilkinson County private
prisons. “We are disappointed by the news but also understand the state must
do what’s in the best interest of the taxpayers,” said MTC Senior Vice
President of Corrections Bernie Warner. “Our hearts go out to the excellent
staff at the facility. We have some of the best corrections professionals in
the business at the facility, and we know this will be very difficult for
them. We will do our best to help make the transition as smooth as possible.”
Fisher said the 215 MTC employees are welcome to apply for jobs with MDOC.
Jun.
11, 2015 buzzfeed.com
Federal Judge Carlton Reeves ruled that conditions at the facility were
unconstitutionally violent. He had previously described the facility as a
“horror as should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized world.”
The
Mississippi Department of Corrections violated the constitutional rights of
inmates at a private prison by failing to provide them with “reasonably safe
living conditions,” a federal judge ruled on Thursday. Conditions at Walnut
Grove Correctional Facility are so dire that Judge Carlton Reeves denied the
department’s request to end a legal agreement forcing the state and its
private contractor to reduce violence, fix broken facilities, and improve
staff training. “The evidence before the Court paints a picture of a facility
struggling with disorder, periodic mayhem, and staff ineptitude which leads to
perpetual danger to the inmates and staff,” Reeves wrote in his decision,
filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
“The dangers that inmates face are not simply limited to assaults by other
inmates but also from the guards.” The agreement to improve conditions in the
facility was negotiated between the ACLU and the Mississippi Department of
Corrections in 2012. It gave the state five years to get Walnut Grove up to
constitutional standards. But riots and injuries to inmates remained so
frequent that Reeves accepted the ACLU’s request for him to step in, noting
in his ruling that “there is a history of nonfeasance” and a sense of
“indifference” by the state and its private contractor, Management and
Training Company (MTC), in meeting the terms of the consent decree. (MDOC did
not respond to requests for comment.) “They were taking their own sweet
time,” Margaret Winter, an attorney at the ACLU, told BuzzFeed News. “Things
weren’t changing. So this was to say we’re not gonna wait around for five
years for this to somehow magically fix itself. People were gonna die.” The
ACLU first claimed that conditions at Walnut Grove, which at the time housed
offenders between 13 and 22 years old, were unconstitutional in November
2010, when the GEO Group operated the facility. The lawsuit cited a series of
violent incidents in recent years: In 2009, for instance, four Walnut Grove
youths attacked a 15-year-old after the only guard on duty had stepped out of
the cellblock. In 2010 an inmate raped his cellmate, the suit stated. The
cellmate pressed a panic button in his cell but it didn’t work. There was
also a riot in 2010. In 2012, Just Reeves approved a legal settlement in
which the Mississippi Department of Corrections agreed to “transform the
facility into one that complies with the United States Constitution” within
five years. In his ruling, Reeves called conditions at Walnut Grove a “horror
as should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized world.” As part of the
settlement, the MDOC moved youth offenders into other facilities around the
state, and Walnut Grove became an adult prison. Then-Mississippi Department
of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps took the Walnut Grove contract away
from the Geo Group and gave it to MTC, a Utah-based firm that grosses more
than $500 million in yearly revenue, the third highest in the industry. But
violence continued at the facility. There were riots in December 2013 and
July 2014. The ACLU hired Eldon Vail, a former Washington state corrections
secretary, to inspect the prison. “The lack of staff supervision is greatly
compounded by the fact that the locking mechanisms on the cell doors at
Walnut Grove are readily defeated and control of the cell doors is a
continuing problem.,” Vail said in a statement filed with the court.
“Officers at the facility do not always know if an individual cell door is
secure.” In August 2014, the ACLU filed a motion asking Reeves to enforce the
terms of the settlement and calling for a trial to determine what progress
the state had made. Prison officials testified that conditions had improved.
“It’s not the same facility I found when I arrived,” Lepher
Jenkins, who took over as warden in 2014, said at a hearing. In a statement
released on Thursday, MTC’s Senior Vice President of Corrections, Odie
Washington, said that the facility has made “substantial changes” in recent
years, including moving mentally ill inmates and high risk offenders to other
prisons. “The state has done everything the courts have asked,” Washington
said in the statement. “In addition to meeting these significant
requirements, MTC has also made numerous improvements to the facility since
taking over in 2012 including reinforcing door locks, providing additional
staff training, and offering more programs to help rehabilitate offenders.”
But inmates and court-appointed monitors claimed in testimony that the
problems at the facility continued because of gang activity, staffing
deficiencies, and malfunctioning cell doors. Gangs “run amok and control the
facility” partly, Reeves stated in his decision, because the facility did not
have enough staff members, and the ones they did have were not well trained.
And though the state and MTC have made progress to improve training and
staffing in recent years, “this is still an area of deficiency contributes to
the facility being dangerous for inmates.” One reason staffing has been a
problem at Walnut Grove, Reeves wrote, is that the guards are not paid well:
the starting salary is $15,602. “Some officers find an incentive to introduce
contraband and participate in other illegal activities as they see them as
other sources of income,” Reeves wrote. Mississippi relies on private prisons
more than most states. As the state’s inmate population rose in the 1990s and
2000s, the state legislature turned parts of its corrections system over to
private contractors. In Mississippi, around 20 percent of state inmates are
locked up in private prisons, nearly three times the national average. MTC
has expanded its role in Mississippi’s prison system in recent years. By
2013, it operated four of the state’s five private prisons, overseeing 5,000
inmates, under contracts that added up to around $60 million annually. The
state’s ties to private prisons came under fresh scrutiny last year when
corrections commissioner Chris Epps was indicted for taking bribes in
exchange for private prison contracts. Four of the transactions involved MTC
contracts. Epps pleaded guilty earlier this year and is currently awaiting
sentencing. CORRECTION All the youth prisoners were moved out of Walnut Grove
as a result of the 2012 settlement, and the facility is now an adult prison.
A previous version of this article erroneously referred to Walnut Grove as a
youth prison. Jun. 11, 2015, at 4:08 p.m.
Apr
8, 2015 jacksonfreepress.com
Since pleading guilty to armed robbery in 2012 and being sentenced to eight
years in prison at Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, J.E. says he has seen
correctional officers trafficking contraband, drug use, daily gang fights,
sexual assaults (of which he says he was a victim and why the Jackson Free
Press is not using his full name) and at least three riots.
#The
most recent riot took place on July 10, 2014, when J.E., who holds an
associate's degree in nursing and holds several other medical certifications,
was conscripted to help triage injured prisoners, some of whom had to be
airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
#"It
was just chaotic. It was something you would think to see in a move, but this
was reality. It was a sight," he testified in federal court in Jackson
last week.
#J.E.
testified that one of the victims he treated begged him not to leave his
side, fearful that the guards would let him die. Earlier in the hearing, when
lawyers played videos of the riot that showed prisoners being kicked and
beaten, sometimes with plastic milk crates and once with a microwave oven,
J.E. would not look at the flat-screen monitors, not wanting to relive the
memory.
#The
video was the centerpiece of a case brought by the ACLU National Prison
Project and Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of Walnut Grove prisoners
alleging that the Mississippi Department of Corrections fails to keep people
in their custody safe from violence.
#Located
in Leake County, Walnut Grove opened in 2001 for
children convicted as adults in criminal court, and has been the subject of
nearly ongoing scrutiny for civil-rights violations. In 2010, the ACLU and
SPLC sued over conditions and won a settlement for their clients that
included promises from MDOC to improve conditions and reduce violence at the
facility. That consent decree requires periodic monitoring from an
independent reviewer.
#Three
years later, and operating under a new private operator, prisoner-rights
advocates find that Walnut Grove is still a violent place, with practices
that violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual
punishment. MDOC disagrees and recently filed a motion to terminate a federal
settlement.
#Thomas
Friedman, an attorney from Phelps Dunbar representing the State of
Mississippi, said during his opening statement in U.S. District Judge Carlton
Reeves courtroom: "You can't try this case because of what occurred. ...
We urge the court to look at what the condition of the prison is today. They
want to try a facility that doesn't exist anymore."
#Walnut
Grove is still very much the same violent place it was when the parties
settled the case, plaintiffs allege. "In three years, MDOC has never yet
been in compliance with this consent decree," Margaret Winter, the
associate director of the ACLU's National Prison Project, said in court.
#But
over the three days that they presented their case, attorneys for Walnut
Grove prisons did more than argue whether MDOC and Walnut Grove had violated
the Eighth Amendment; they put private prisons themselves on trial as well.
#Training
Days
#At
he time of the original consent decree,
Florida-based GEO Group Ltd.—the nation's No. 2 private-prison company—ran
Walnut Grove. Today, Management & Training Corp., the third-largest
corrections-management firm in the nation, headquartered in Utah, holds the
contract.
#The
strategy of the plaintiffs' lawyers, who presented their case between April 1
and April 3, was to show how MTC's business practices—namely, a profit
motive—create an environment that relegates prisoner and staff safety to the
back burner.
#Marjorie
Brown, an MTC vice president who oversees wardens at the four prisons the
company manages in Mississippi and one in Florida, said that despite telling
prison after the July 2014 riot "we forgot how to do our jobs," the
company terminated a half-dozen staff members. Brown, who is also an MTC
shareholder, also said she is still confident that the company can meet the
terms of its MDOC contract.
#Brown
also said MTC employees earn, on average, less than state workers but that
the starting pay for correctional officers recently went up at MDOC's urging
to between $10 and $10.50 per hour. Foes of prison privatization say lower
wages, less rigorous training, understaffing and high turnover can all
undermine safety at prisons.
#Another
video from the July 2014 Walnut Grove riot, taken from a camera mounted
inside a guard station, shows correctional officers attempting to deploy tear
gas into the housing pod where the riot was taking place. In an apparent
malfunction, the canister went off inside the booth and the guards cleared
out for approximately a half hour, as the violence continued in the housing
unit.
#Jody
Owens, managing attorney at the Mississippi Southern Poverty Law Center,
argued in court that the video demonstrates that MTC's guards were improperly
equipped—the guard station lacked gas masks—and trained to respond to the
riot. Brown, the MTC official, said she had not seen the video and was not
aware that the gas canister had gone off in the guard booth before she took
the stand in court last week.
#"Private
prisons are doing everything on the cheap," the Rev. Jeremy Tobin, a
member of the newly formed Clergy for Prison Reform, which opposes
privatization in the corrections industry, told the Jackson Free Press.
Tobin's group believes profiting from the incarceration is immoral.
#The
private-prison industry bloomed amidst the political ethos of the 1980s that
encouraged elected officials to get tough on crime and to hire private
companies to run basic government functions more efficiently. Privatization
peaked during the Great Recession when governments were desperate for ways to
save money and balance their budgets.
#Privatization
also invited temptation for corruption. Earlier this year, in the same
courthouse the Walnut Grove hearing took place, former MDOC Commissioner
Christopher Epps pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks from a Rankin County
businessman named Cecil McCrory who briefly owned a company that provided
commissary services to prisons and jails. McCrory was also a consultant to
companies that did business with MDOC, including MTC.
#Eldon
Vail, the former commissioner of the Washington (State) Department of
Corrections and the plaintiffs' expert witness, told the court that in his
opinion MTC is "not paying attention to correctional basics"
designed to keep prisoners and staff safe. Vail also characterized Walnut
Grove's response to the July riot as "pretty profound levels of
incompetence."
#Vail
also cited a lack of training, including in verbal de-escalation techniques,
and lack of encouragement of prisoners to participate in educational
programs, such as general-educational equivalency, vocational training and
substance abuse counseling.
#MDOC's
attorneys declined to speak with reporters during the hearing. Grace Fisher,
MDOC's spokeswoman, told the Jackson Free Press that the agency does not want
to comment on evidence that will be presented in court. The hearing was
originally scheduled to take three days. However, the defendants—MDOC—will
present their case in a few weeks, attorneys said.
Apr 2, 2105 clarionledger.com
Expert:
Private prison co. 'shows lack of seriousness'
A
federal court hearing to determine whether Walnut Grove Correctional Facility
prisoners face the ongoing threat of violence without adequate protection
began Wednesday with testimony from a prisons expert blaming the state for
systemic failures. At issue is the Mississippi Department of Correction's
adherence to a three-year-old consent decree in which it agreed to improve
conditions at the privately run prison to avoid a lawsuit by the American
Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center. ACLU and SPLC say
the state has, and continues to, violate that
consent decree and wants U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves to hold it
accountable. "In three years, the defendants have never been in
compliance with the consent decree," attorney Margaret Winter of ACLU's
National Prison Project said in her opening statements. The Mississippi
Department of Corrections disputes that. Attorney Gary Friedman said Walnut
Grove has made substantial improvements in the past three years: It reduced
by nearly a quarter its inmate population, eliminated its long-term
segregation and closed-custody units, and it beefed up staff training.
"You can't try this case on what happened" in the past,"
Friedman said. "Because that place doesn't exist anymore. It just
doesn't." MDOC wants Reeves not only to rule against ACLU and SPLC, but
also to terminate the consent decree.The
hearing, held at the federal courthouse in Jackson, is expected to last
through the end of the day Friday. First on the witness stand was Eldon Vail,
the former head of Washington State's correctional system whom plaintiffs
hired in 2013 to examine Walnut Grove's adherence to the consent decree. Vail
had toured the facility in January 2014, just days after a New Year's Eve
riot that involved dozens of prisoners housed among several units, and said found numerous deficiencies. Among them:
unsecure cell doors, inexperienced staff, and a lack of planning and
oversight. Vail said he made numerous recommendations for improvements that
could prevent such an incident in the future. Yet a second riot consumed the
facility just seven months later that involved hundreds of inmates and
resulted in numerous, serious injuries. At least nine people required
hospitalization as a result. "It illustrates to me a lack of seriousness
about MTC's commitment to keep people safe," Vail said on the stand.
Utah-based Management and Training Corporation, or MTC, is a private prisons
operator that manages Walnut Grove for the Mississippi Department of
Corrections. Vail will resume his testimony at 1:45 p.m. today.
Feb
9, 2015 clarionledger.com
A
drop in the state prison population has resulted in the Mississippi
Department of Corrections saving $1.4 million at a private prison for fiscal
2015, according to MDOC officials. MDOC has amended its current contract with
Management & Training Corp. (MTC) for operating Walnut Grove Correctional
Facility in Leake County primarily because of the
declining inmate population. The change also helps to ensure the agency stays
in compliance with a federal consent decree. The number of state inmates at
the private prison has been reduced from 1,300 to 962. MDOC Commissioner
Marshall Fisher had said the state was paying for inmates no longer at the
private facility. "Failure to do so would have unnecessarily cost
taxpayer money," Fisher said of renegotiating the contract. Fisher said
the population decrease also has allowed the agency to address staffing
shortage and overtime at one of the three state-operated prisons. In addition
to fewer inmates at Walnut Grove, MDOC has moved 186 inmates from the
state-run South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville. The
change was made in response to the concerns from staff and the community
about safety at the prison. "The inmates from both prisons have been
distributed among other facilities throughout the state," Fisher said.
"Both moves ultimately are to provide effective security, custody and
control of inmates and for the safety of our staff."
Jul
19, 2014 hattiesburgamerican.com
JACKSON
— All nine inmates injured during a disturbance on July 10 at Walnut Grove
Correctional Facility are now back in prison. The Mississippi Department of
Corrections reports the three offenders who had remained hospitalized
following the disturbance were released from the University of Mississippi
Medical Center this week. The Leake County prison
has been on lockdown since fighting broke out in one of the housing units.
Investigations by the Mississippi Department of Corrections and Management
and Training Corp. (MTC), the prison's private operator, continue. According
to a MDOC press release, the fighting occurred between two rival gangs in
connection with an attempt to smuggle contraband into the prison. Walnut
Grove police arrested Marcus Warnsley on charges of
trespassing and attempting to introduce contraband into a correctional
facility, and the contraband was seized. Four correctional officers suspected
of involvement have been suspended. "Our investigation is progressing,
but we still have more work to do," said Christopher B. Epps, department
of corrections commissioner. "No charges have been filed against anyone
at this time."
Jul
16, 2014 greenfieldreporter.com
JACKSON,
Mississippi — Mississippi corrections officials say four guards have been
suspended from the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility in the aftermath of a
fight among inmates at the prison. Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps
provided an update on the investigation during a federal court hearing. Nine
inmates were hurt last week in a fight that authorities suggest came after
the arrest of a man trying to smuggle contraband into the prison. Epps says
the investigation determined one guard was to escort an inmate into the
prison yard to collect items that were to be tossed over the fence. A Dec. 31
fight between two gangs left 16 inmates hurt at the central Mississippi
prison. Epps told U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves that both incidents were
gang-related.
Jul
12, 2014 therepublic.com
WALNUT
GROVE, Mississippi — A fight that injured nine inmates at a privately run
prison in central Mississippi was related to an attempt to bring in banned
items, state Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Friday. Epps said in a
statement that the Walnut Grove Police Department arrested one person on
contraband charges. A Walnut Grove officer said he didn't know who was
arrested. Inmates suffered cuts and stab wounds during a fight that broke out
about 10 p.m. Thursday among a group of inmates in one of the six housing
units, said spokesman Issa Arnita of Utah-based Management & Training Corp.,
which runs the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility through a state contract.
Epps said of the injured inmates, six had been returned to the prison by
Friday afternoon and three remain hospitalized at the University of
Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Epps said he made a trip on Friday to
the prison, which remained on lockdown. "Fortunately no one was
killed," he said. Arnita said the prison's emergency response team used
"chemical agents," and the fight was over after about an hour. He
said seven inmates were brought by ambulance to a local hospital. Three were
then airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Arnita said the unit where the fight took place houses 240 inmates, and
authorities are trying to determine how many prisoners were involved. Groups
suing over prisoner treatment in Mississippi have criticized the state's
hands-off management of MTC, Mississippi's main private prison contractor.
Walnut Grove has a history of troubles. Most recently, a Dec. 31 fight between
two gangs of prisoners injured 16 inmates. Six prison guards and one
supervisor were fired or resigned after the December fight, court papers
said. Another staff member was placed on administrative leave. Epps said that
since then, the state and MTC have been trying to eliminate contraband such
as homemade knives, cellphones and tobacco, and has started a K-9 unit.
"With the security changes we have made, we are hoping to reduce the
incidents at Walnut Grove," he said in the Friday statement. But court
monitors have questioned whether some of those measures will work, noting
that contraband appears to mainly be brought in by prison employees. An April
report by a monitor for plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit reported high levels
of violence, drugs smuggled in and inadequately trained guards. MTC, which
took over operation of the prison in 2012, disputed most of the findings. MTC
said the prison "has made great progress in creating a safer environment
for offenders and staff." The company said staff meets state training
standards. The state removed juvenile offenders from Walnut Grove after U.S.
District Judge Carlton Reeves described conditions as "a cesspool of
unconstitutional and inhuman acts" while it was being managed by
Florida-based GEO Group. Reeves' order came after a Justice Department report
charged the state was "deliberately indifferent" to sexual abuse,
overuse of force and inadequate medical care for young inmates. MTC also
operates the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near Meridian, the
Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs and the Wilkinson
County Correctional Facility in Woodville.
Jul
11, 2014 wtva.com
WALNUT
GROVE, Miss. (AP) — Nine inmates suffered cuts and stab wounds during a fight
at a privately run prison in central Mississippi, and the facility was on
lockdown Friday, officials said. A fight broke out about 10 p.m. Thursday
among a group of inmates in one of the six housing units, said spokesman Issa
Arnita of Management and Training Corporation, which runs the Walnut Grove
Correctional Facility through a state contract. "Officers attempted to
stop the disturbance, but it quickly escalated," he said. "The
facility's emergency response team was activated. The team used chemical
agents to gain control of the inmates. The incident lasted one hour. The
local police and sheriff's departments were on site as a backup." Arnita
said the prison was on lockdown Friday. "We're trying to determine how
many offenders were actually involved the incident. The unit where the
disturbance took place houses 240 inmates," he said. Nine inmates were
injured. Arnita said seven were transported by ambulance to the local
hospital. Three were then airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical
Center in Jackson. One inmate has since been returned to the prison. "We
don't have details on their conditions, and no names are being released at
this time. No correctional officers were injured," he said. The prison,
the Mississippi Department of Corrections and local authorities are
investigating the fight. The Walnut Grove prison has a history of troubles.
In April, a federal prison monitor reported violence was out of control, drugs
were being smuggled in and guards are not adequately trained. The documents
were filed by monitors who oversee the prison and plaintiffs who sued over
conditions there. MTC, who took over operation of the prison in 2012,
disputed most of the findings. MTC said the prison "has made great
progress in creating a safer environment for offenders and staff." A
Dec. 31 fight between two gangs left 16 inmates hurt and showed more
improvements were needed, the monitor said. An MTC report said the fight went
on for about an hour, with inmates using homemade knives and other weapons.
Six prison guards and one supervisor were fired or resigned after he December
fight, court papers said. Another staff member was placed on administrative
leave. The monitor's report said, among other findings, that contraband was
being smuggled into the prison and security personnel were ignoring rules
violations and fraternizing with prisoners. The prison is under legal
scrutiny because of earlier misdeeds. The state removed youth offenders from
Walnut Grove after U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves described conditions as "a
cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts" while it was being
managed by Florida-based GEO Group. Reeves' order came after a Justice
Department report charged the state was "deliberately indifferent"
to sexual abuse, overuse of force and inadequate medical care for young
inmates. The state agreed to improve conditions. GEO Group gave up its
contract and the Department of Corrections hired MTC to house adult inmates at
Walnut Grove. Since then, all parties agree conditions have improved. The
court monitors said half the security staff in December had less than one
year's experience. Vail said the staff doesn't have "the necessary
skill, experience, and custody expertise" to manage high-risk inmates
and called on the state to limit the prison to medium- and minimum-security
inmates. MTC, though, said staff meets state training standards. Utah-based
MTC operates the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near Meridian, the
Walnut Grove Correctional Facility in Walnut Grove, the Marshall County
Correctional Facility in Holly Springs and the Wilkinson County Correctional
Facility in Woodville.
Jan
3, 2014 seattlepi.com
WALNUT
GROVE, Miss. (AP) — Fourteen of 18 inmates injured during a fight Tuesday
have returned to the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility. Issa Arnita,
corporate communications director for Management and Training Corporation,
says an investigation by the company and the Mississippi Department of
Corrections continues. Four people remain hospitalized at the University of
Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Arnita says the altercation took place
in one of the facility's six housing units. He says a correctional officer
was treated for minor injuries. No other officers were injured. Staff
responded immediately and secured the units soon after the incident began
around 7:00 p.m. Tuesday. The facility remains on lock down. Investigators
will review video footage of the incident. Walnut Grove opened in 2001 and can
house 1,461 inmates.
Mississippi,
MTC incident, Walnut
Grove Correctional Facility
Jan.
1, 2014 clarionledger.com
"At
approximately 7 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2013, officers at the Walnut Grove
Correctional Facility responded to a fight involving several offenders in one
of the housing units. The incident appears to be gang related. Some of the
injured were transported to local hospitals and later returned to the
facility. One correctional officer did sustain minor injuries. The facility
is on lock down. The incident is still under investigation. We're working in
partnership with the Mississippi Department of Corrections to determine what
led up to the incident." The statement was released by Issa Arnita,
corporate communications director for MTC. Updated 12:18 p.m:
"This is the worst thing a parent can live through," said Leeann
Squires of Florence, whose son is at Walnut Grove. Updated 11:24 a.m: University of Mississippi Medical Center spokesman
Jack Mazurak confirmed that two patients had been
brought in by AirCare from Walnut Grove, and two
had come in by ground ambulance. Original story: Mississippi Department of
Corrections officials are confirming an incident at Walnut Grove Correctional
Facility last night that sources say sent more than 10 people to the hospital.
"The MDOC Corrections Investigation Division is investigating the
matter," said MDOC spokesperson Tara Booth. "We can confirm there
was an incident and our investigators are on the scene as we speak."
Details on the incident are scarce, but a responder not authorized to discuss
the situation said possibly 13 people may have been hospitalized, many with
stab wounds. Stephanie Luckett of Canton said her mother-in-law got a text
message that a riot had occurred, and she had called Walnut Grove to check on
a loved one in the facility. She called at the same time The Clarion-Ledger
was calling the facility and operators somehow connected her with The
Clarion-Ledger instead of connecting either caller with Walnut Grove
officials. Officials at MTC, Walnut Grove's corporation, have not responded
yet to phone calls and emails. The Leake County
Sheriff's Department and Walnut Grove Police Department both assisted at the
scene, but neither had anyone available to comment. Booth said investigators
will look at video footage to find out more about the incident. Walnut Grove
is located in Leake County, approximately 11 miles
southeast of Carthage. WGCF has a housing capacity of 1,461.
Jul
11, 2013 bloomberg.com
In
the four privately run prisons holding Mississippi inmates last year, the
assault rate was three times higher on average than in state-run lockups.
None was as violent as the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility. The
for-profit detention center, surrounded by razor wire and near the forests
and farms of central Mississippi, had 27 assaults per 100 offenders last
year, more than any other prison in the state, according to an April court
filing. Staff shortages, mismanagement and lax oversight had long turned it
into a cauldron of violence, where female employees had sex with inmates,
pitted them against each other, gave them weapons and joined their gangs,
according to court records, interviews and a U.S. Justice Department report.
More than 130,000 state and federal convicts throughout the U.S. -- 8 percent
of the total -- now live in private prisons such as Walnut Grove, as public
officials buy into claims that the institutions can deliver profits while
preparing inmates for life after release, saving tax dollars and creating jobs.“It was like a jungle,” said Craig Kincaid, 24, a
former inmate. “It was an awful place to go when you’re trying to get your
life together.” No national data tracks whether the facilities are run as
well as public ones, and private-prison lobbyists for years have successfully
fought efforts to bring them under federal open-records law. Yet regulatory,
court and state records show that the industry has repeatedly experienced the
kind of staffing shortages and worker turnover that helped produce years of
chaos at Walnut Grove. Saving Money: “There is a systematic failure to
provide the level and competency of staffing necessary to run facilities that
are safe not only for the people on the inside, but the public,” said Elaine
Rizzo, a criminal-justice professor at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New
Hampshire, who studied prison privatization for a state advisory board. “It
comes back to saving money.” In Texas and Florida, which hold about a third
of all privately detained state inmates, employee turnover rates were 50
percent to more than 100 percent higher in private prisons than in public
ones, according to data from the Texas Criminal Justice Department and the
Florida Law Enforcement Department. In Mississippi, Tennessee and Idaho,
company-run prisons have had higher assault rates than public ones, state
data show. Geo’s Response: Boca Raton, Florida-based Geo (GEO) Group Inc.,
the second-largest U.S. prison company, ran the Walnut Grove prison for about
two years, from August 2010 until July 2012. Pablo Paez,
a spokesman for Geo, said focusing on troubled institutions such as Walnut
Grove “yields an unfair, unbalanced, and inaccurate portrayal of the totality
of our industry’s and our company’s long standing record of quality
operations and services which have delivered significant savings for
taxpayers.” The Mississippi prison “faced significant operational challenges
for several years” before Geo took over, and the company invested
“significant resources, time, and effort” to improve conditions at the
facility, Paez said by e-mail. The for-profit
prison industry has encountered staffing issues in other states. Idaho
Corrections Department officials voted last month not to renew a contract
with Nashville, Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America, the
largest U.S. prison company, after it admitted billing for hours that weren’t
worked. Dangerous Situation: State and federal officials have reported
dangerous conditions at understaffed privately run prisons in Ohio, Colorado
and in Mississippi. New Mexico fined Geo $2.4 million in 2012 for excessive
staff vacancies at three prisons in 2011 and 2012, according to Jim Brewster,
general counsel for the state corrections department. The U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health Administration last year sought $104,000 in penalties against
Geo, including $70,000 for worker shortages, faulty cells and inadequate
training at a prison in Meridian, Mississippi, that the agency said put
workers at risk of being attacked. Geo is contesting the matter. In May,
inmates at the prison, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the
state in U.S. District Court in Jackson alleging “barbaric and horrific
conditions” at the facility, now run by a different company. A 2004 report by
the Colorado Corrections Department blamed a riot at a Corrections Corp.
prison on chronic understaffing and high employee turnover: The attrition
rate was double that of state-run facilities. Inexperience and lack of staff
cohesion isn’t lost on rioting inmates, according to the report. Public
Difference: In Colorado’s public prisons, “offenders know that attempts to
defeat security” will be met by “a confident and experienced staff,”
according to the report. “No corrections system -- public or private -- is
immune to incidents,” Steven Owen, a Corrections Corp. spokesman, said by
e-mail. “In Colorado, our dedicated, professional employees are required to
meet or exceed the same training requirements as their public counterparts.”
The private corrections industry has delivered for investors. The number of
inmates in for-profit prisons throughout the U.S. rose 44 percent in the past
decade. BlackRock Inc. (BLK) and Renaissance Technologies LLC are among
dozens of money-management firms that have invested in the business. As of
March 31, BlackRock reported holding stakes worth more than $254 million in
Geo and $236 million in Corrections Corp. (CXW), while Renaissance disclosed
owning about $39 million of Geo shares and about $36 million in Corrections
Corp. stock, according to datacompiled by
Bloomberg. Geo has more than doubled since December 2011, while Corrections
Corp. has risen 87 percent, both outpacing a 33 percent gain for the Standard
& Poor’s 500 Index. Representatives of BlackRock and Renaissance declined
to comment. Low Pay: Pay and staffing ratios are lower in private prisons
than in public ones, state and federal data show. The median annual pay in
company-run facilities was $30,460 in 2010, according to the U.S. Labor
Department, 21 percent less than for correctional officers employed by
states. In Texas, wages and benefits are “generally lower” in private prisons
than in public ones, according to a 2008 legislative report. Nationally,
private prisons had one corrections officer for every 6.9 inmates in 2005,
compared with one for every five in public lockups, according to the Justice
Department’s most recent statistics. Geo took over Walnut Grove after it
acquired Houston-based Cornell Cos. Under its new management company, the
prison now holds only inmates 18 and older, and Youth is out of its name. Big
Bonus: In 2012, Geo had revenue of $1.48 billion, up from $569 million 10
years earlier, with net income of $135 million. George Zoley,
its chairman and chief executive officer, received almost $6 million last
year, including a $2.2 million bonus for profit surpassing targets, according
to company filings. The company has drawn repeated scrutiny and criticism
from regulators and lawyers for inmates, faulting it for dangerous or
derelict care. Geo lost civil wrongful-death lawsuits in Texas and Oklahoma,
including a $47.5 million jury award in Texas state court in 2006 to the
family of an inmate beaten to death with padlock-stuffed socks four days
before his release, according to court documents. The company appealed that
verdict before settling. The company said it would appeal the Oklahoma
ruling. Geo’s contracts to house Idaho and Texas inmates at two prisons in
Texas were canceled after state reports of unsafe conditions. Inmates Sue: In
November 2010, inmates at Walnut Grove sued Mississippi and Geo in federal
court in Jackson over conditions there. In an order last year, U.S. District
Court Judge Carlton Reeves, who oversaw that lawsuit, said what happened at
Walnut Grove “paints a picture of such horror as should be unrealized
anywhere in the civilized world.” Geo’s Paez said
the judge based his order partly on the Justice Department report about
Walnut Grove, which related to events that largely took place either before
Geo took over or in the first few months after it assumed management of the
prison. As few as two corrections officers worked units with 240 inmates
during the day, or one for 120 prisoners, according to a 2011 report to the
state by MGT of America Inc., a Tallahassee, Florida-based consulting firm.
That ratio is more than 10 times what’s typical at youth facilities, said Ned
Loughran, executive director of the Council of Juvenile Correctional
Administrators. “I’ve never seen ratios that risky in terms of supervising
kids,” he said. The Walnut Grove prison sits on the edge of a town of about 500,
where the downtown has a gas station, two diners, a city hall and a bank. It
had lost one of its biggest employers, a glove factory, when community
leaders decided to pursue a private prison in a quest for jobs and revenue.
Dying Town: “The town was dying,” Mayor J. Brian Gomillion
said. “We struggled even after we opened. But it re-invigorated the
community.” State Representative Bennett Malone, a Democrat whose district
included the area and who led the corrections committee in the Mississippi
House, championed the prison. It was originally authorized to hold 500
inmates as old as 19. The prison would be the biggest economic boon the area
had ever seen and give troubled boys a second chance, with teachers,
counselors, spiritual advisers, psychologists and training, Malone and other
backers told the Jackson Clarion Ledger Newspaper at the time.Expanded
Capacity: The prison opened in 2001. Cornell took over about a decade ago,
predicting annual revenue of $11 million. By 2007, through legislation pushed
by Malone, Mississippi had expanded Walnut Grove’s permitted capacity to
1,500 inmates as old as 22. “It never pleases me to see young people locked
up, but it does please me to know the custody and care will be provided by
the dedicated people of my district,” Malone said at agroundbreaking
for the expansion. Malone got campaign contributions of $2,000 from Cornell
and $1,000 from Geo in 2006, accounting for 30 percent of what he raised that
year, state campaign-finance reports show. Malone didn’t respond to e-mails
and telephone calls seeking comment. When Geo bought Cornell in August 2010
for $730 million in cash, stock and debt, the prison was showing signs of
strain. A riot had hospitalized six young inmates. A 2010 legislative audit
showed that staff levels had failed to keep pace with the expanding
population. By then, the town depended on the prison, which now pays it
$180,000 a year, or a quarter of its budget. Merchants saw little of the
economic boom once promised, said Carl Sistrunk, owner of the gas station
where the prison fuels transport vehicles. Hurting Community: “It has helped
and it has hurt, if you ask me,” Sistrunk said. “You hear about some of the
things going on in there and that hurts us all.” Caleb Williams was 12 when
Malone introduced the legislation creating Walnut Grove -- and already headed
there. One of 11 children of a single mother on welfare in Starkville and in
foster care since age three, Williams was about to be kicked out of school,
was stealing and dealing drugs and could barely read or write, he recalled.
“I wasn’t a bad child,” he said. “I was just misguided. I had my heart set on
having things that weren’t there.” Williams landed in Walnut Grove after he
was arrested at age 16 for stealing a car’s compact-disc player, then
stabbing an officer with a pen while trying to flee. Williams admits all
except the stabbing. Honors Student: Ross Walton was on a different path. An
honors student, he played the piano, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity
and had a third-degree Karate black belt, activities he said were pushed by a
mother determined to keep him from becoming another locked-up black man from
the Mississippi Delta. Walton entered Walnut Grove at 18, convicted of
aggravated assault after a fight in a bowling alley, his first brush with the
law. The prison was nothing like its backers once promised, former inmates
said. Gangs ruled the 60-inmate, 30-cell housing units, Williams and Walton
said. There were at least 13 present in the facility, according to the 2010
audit. Corrections officers sometimes slept while prisoners fought, the
inmates said. Assaults were common. Officers often did nothing. Some provoked
fights and then used pepper spray and other deterrents, said Williams. “You
saw blood on the floor, everywhere,” he said. ‘Inappropriate Relationships:'
Their accounts are echoed in the 2012 Justice Department report and the
ACLU-backed lawsuit, which was settled last year. The federal report found
“numerous inappropriate relationships between staff and youth,” with corrections
officers giving inmates personal mobile phone numbers, wiring money to their
commissary accounts and providing them with banned items, including weapons.
State oversight was minimal. The 2011 MGT report found no evidence the state
ever surveyed inmates, reviewed their records, or did annual checks of prison
operations, as required under the contract. A state monitor received no
training and relied on the company running the facility for data, which the
state never attempted to verify, it said. Staff shortages were chronic,
according to inmates and Cleveland McAfee, a former corrections officer. The
prison struggled to retain workers, with many quitting within weeks of
starting work, McAfee said. After he was promoted to lieutenant, he
frequently had to fill in on the front line. “I just got burned out because
they just didn’t have the staff,” McAfee said. Delayed Releases: The
shortages led to lockdowns, according to Walton and the inmate lawsuit that
was also backed by the Southern Poverty Law Center. That meant they couldn’t
go to school, slowing the release of those who had to complete high-school
equivalency degrees to get out, Walton said. “The longer the stay, the more
money the prison makes,” he said. Corrections officers were eager to make more
money and smuggling was rampant, said Williams. “If they’ll bring in a pack
of gum, they’ll bring in a pack of T-shirts,” he said. “If they bring in a
pack of T-shirts, they’ll bring in a knife.” In fiscal 2010, officials
confiscated 137 weapons at the prison, according to the audit by the
Mississippi legislature. There were 80 assaults with weapons on staff and
inmates, a rate of one every five days. Seventy percent of Walnut Grove’s
security staff was female, according to the 2011 consultant’s report. Sexual
tension ran high. In one incident, a female corrections officer stripped off
her shirt in a housing-unit control center and danced “provocatively” over
four hours in front of inmates, touching one inappropriately,” the Justice
Department said. Sexual Tensions: Inmates flirted with the female officers
and fought over them. They got propositioned by them and punished if they
rebuffed them, with written reprimands that added months to sentences, Walton
said. “Because you would not perform a sexual act with them, they make you
stay longer,” he said. “We would have brand new guards come through, doing a
walk-through right out of training. They would come through telling us they
were looking for boyfriends, looking for a man, before they even started their
jobs.” “They were just hiring anybody to fill those spots and that made it
worse, because they didn’t know what they were doing,” he said. “I had one
guard -- I was older than her.” Safety depended on staying out of the common
areas in each 60-inmate cell unit. Avoiding ‘Sharks: Williams spent his first
two years confined to his zone, unable to attend school or go outside. He
stayed in his cell 23 hours a day, teaching himself to read and writing in
journals. He learned to lip read to anticipate fights and avoid violence that
corrections officers were too few or too scared to prevent. He didn’t have to
worry about food or shelter, Williams said. “All I had to worry about was
being around these sharks, these lions and tigers and bears, in this
poisonous world, where people are waking up with madness on their minds,” he
said. Berl Goff, a former captain at Walnut Grove,
was hired to improve security in November 2009 by then-warden Brick Tripp.
Goff, an experienced corrections officer, said the prison was having three or
four bloodshed-causing fights every week. “It goes back to the fact that
these folks were not trained right,” he said of the staff. “They had never
worked in a real prison.” After four months on the job, Goff said he’d made
progress. Then he intercepted a ballot inmates were passing between cells. A
gang called the Vice Lords was voting on whether to attack a rival group’s
leader. Goff’s bosses rebuffed his request for more help: “They told me to
handle it,” he said. Bloody Riot: Eighteen corrections officers were at the
prison the day of the assault, he said -- one for every 60 prisoners. One, a
gang member herself, walked through the cellblock freeing Vice Lords, then
left. When the beatings and stabbings stopped, six inmates were rushed to the
hospital, one with permanent brain damage. “You got 60 inmates there and it’s
just me,” said McAfee, the former guard and one of those who responded to the
melee. “You just had to sit there and wait while people are fighting. It was
a horrible experience.” The worst hurt was Michael McIntosh, then 20. Six
weeks after the incident, his father found him in a hospital three hours away
in Greenville. The younger McIntosh’s eyes were red and blinded by blood. He
had a baseball-sized lump on his head, multiple stab wounds and brain damage.
He made noises like a small child. Blinded Son: “He couldn’t see me,” said
his father, Michael McIntosh Sr. “He was just reaching, saying ‘Daaa.’” Geo bought Cornell in August 2010, adding Walnut
Grove to the two other prisons it ran in Mississippi. The three delivered
$44.9 million in revenue the next year, according to Geo’s 2012 annual
report. Paez, the Geo spokesman, said the company
inherited the prison’s troubles. “Any reasonable party would agree that
significant resources, time and effort would be required to turn around a
facility that had faced significant operational problems for several years,” Paez said in a the e-mail. “That is in fact what Geo
did.” Walnut Grove received an accreditation score of 100 percent in an audit
conducted in early 2012 by the American Correctional Association, an
Alexandria, Virginia-based organization that represents public and private
prisons, Paez said. Substantially Unchanged: The
2012 Justice Department report said key personnel, policies and training at
the prison “did not change substantially, despite Geo’s claim that it made
corrective reforms.” Goff, the former prison captain, said staffing got worse
under Geo, which kept 5 percent of positions vacant. For weeks at a time, he
said he had 13 to 15 officers on the night shift, instead of the 23 he
needed. “There were nights when I was captain when I walked all night long,
all night by myself,” Goff said. “There was no one in the control centers.
They kept saying we had to economize.” At a March 2012 hearing at the federal
courthouse in Jackson, where the settlement of the civil lawsuit against the
prison and the state was reviewed, Walnut Grove inmates described continuing
violence behind the facility’s walls. One 15-year-old said the advice of a
judge, who wanted him to have special protection, was ignored. “He didn’t
want me in the cell with nobody smarter than me and nobody older than me,”
the inmate said. Prison administrators gave him a 19-year-old cellmate who
had raped him days earlier. Bloomberg News doesn’t identify victims of sexual
assault. Perpetrators Unpunished: “I just have not heard anything that says
to me that any of these perpetrators, any of these people, have paid the
price for what they have done to some of these children,” said Reeves, the
federal judge presiding over the hearing. There are five privately run
prisons in Mississippi, though one houses only inmates fromCalifornia,
according to the state Corrections Department. Three other prisons are run by
the state. In fiscal 2012, Walnut Grove had 284 assaults, the April court
filing shows, more than in any of the three other private prisons with
Mississippi inmates. It also exceeded the most violent state facility, which
had three times the population. Mississippi replaced Geo as Walnut Grove’s
operator a year ago. “We moved them out, because that’s just totally
unacceptable,” said Governor Phil Bryant, a Republican elected in 2011,
referring to the troubles at Walnut Grove. “We just won’t tolerate that type
of behavior, and we’re working with the Justice Department to be sure it
doesn’t happen again.” Isolated Situation: “Private prisons have worked
well,” he said. “For years, we’ve had a lot of success with them. This was
one bad incident, we got rid of the player involved, and we got another
company in that we think will do a better job.” Geo’s Paez
said it has a long-standing record of “adhering to industry-leading standards
set by independent accreditation entities” and rehabilitating prisoners with
programs to help them re-enter society. “Our company is proud of the
incredible dedication and effort of our more than 18,000 employees worldwide,
who strive every day to make a difference in the lives of the more than
60,000 men and women who are entrusted daily to our care,” he said. Walnut
Grove is now run by Management & Training Corp., a closely held company
based in Centerville, Utah. Brick Tripp, Walnut Grove’s former warden, runs
another Geo prison in North Carolina. Through Paez,
he declined to comment. Goff, the former captain, now works for another
private prison company he says is better run. McIntosh will be released in
September and only sometimes remembers life before his injury, his father
said. Walton is a 28-year-old accounting student at Mississippi State
University in Starkville. He says Walnut Grove “scarred me; I will never be
the same.” Williams owns a barber shop in Greenville, where he sleeps at
night on a cot in a storage room. It’s the same dimensions as his cell in
Walnut Grove.
April 20, 2013 sunherald.com
WALNUT
GROVE -- Most privately run prisons in Mississippi had assault rates two to
three times higher than state-run prisons in 2012, a new report shows. Walnut
Grove Correctional Facility, one private prison in Mississippi, had an
assault rate of 27 per 100 prisoners last year, according to the report filed
by monitors charged with making sure the prison complies with an agreement to
improve safety and living conditions. The highest assault rate at a state or
regional prison run by the state Department of Corrections was 7 per 100
inmates, the report said. Differences in population and custody levels may be
one reason for the higher rates of violence in private prisons. "The
privates may have more inmates in higher custody levels," resulting in a
more-violent inmate population, prisoners' rights attorney Ron Welch said.
"Or, private prisons have higher staffing turnover, so the staffing may
be too thin and inmates may be not be properly supervised." Mississippi
began relying on private prisons after 1996 when lawmakers decided convicts
must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. State law mandates private
prisons provide their services for 10 percent less than it would cost the
state. "That's really when private prisons started booming, especially
in Mississippi, because we were poor like we are now," said Christopher
Epps, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, which has an
annual budget of almost $340 million. "It sounded good that you could go
out and contract to build a prison and get somebody to operate at 10 percent
cheaper than we can." The contractors save money by paying their staff
less than state employees are paid, firing employees in a quick and
less-expensive manner, and by providing shorter educational and vocational
programs to inmates, Epps said. The state spends an average of $49.76 per
inmate per day at its own prisons, for example, and pays the operator of
Walnut Grove $37.68 per inmate per day. But the new report renews questions
about the added risks. The court monitor's report follows a series of riots
and allegations of abuse and hazardous conditions at other privately run
prisons in Mississippi in the past year. "I've had two (guards) arrested
in the last two days," said Patricia Doty, the deputy warden at Walnut
Grove, in late March. The prison is run by Management and Training Corp. of
Utah. Doty said she has had problems retaining staff. Almost half the guards
who started in January have already quit or been fired. Concerns over safety,
liability, compliance and cost have led some states to eschew private
prisons. Illinois and New York won't allow private prisons, and Louisiana has
a moratorium on new contracts, though Gov. Bobby Jindal has recently
supported legislation allowing privatization. In late March, the New
Hampshire House of Representatives voted for a bill that would ban private
prisons. Nevertheless, the private prison industry continues to grow. At
least 30 states have contracts with these companies. The companies In
Mississippi, three companies have operated six prisons over the years: The
GEO Group, Corrections Corporation of America, and Management and Training
Corp. However, The GEO Group, which ran Walnut Grove and two other prisons,
left the state in 2012. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
filed a complaint in December 2011 against the East Mississippi Correctional
Facility alleging employees were exposed to violence due to staff shortage
and inadequate staff training. The GEO Group, which ran the prison, was fined
more than $100,000. Earlier in 2011, an inmate there stabbed a guard in the
face. "No one was supposed to be in the housing units alone, but there
wasn't enough staff there to follow that directive," said Berl Goff, who was working there at the time as captain
and unit manager. The GEO Group did not respond to repeated requests for
comments. Conditions at Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in the
Delta are also troublesome, said Patrick Perry, a former guard there. Perry
recalled a day in the prison when he tried to report an inmate riot to
supervisors but the call never went through. "We were supposed to have a
five-week (training) class, and we were barely in class three weeks when they
put us on the floor," he said. "We never went back to finish our
training because they were always short (on staff). Every day it's at least
40 to 50 officers short, and people are frustrated because they got to do the
job of three or four officers." Repeated requests to Tennessee-based
Corrections Corporation of America for comments were not answered. The future
In many circles, people are looking to solutions, both locally and
nationally, to the bursting levels of prison populations. The economic
downturn has also pushed governments to look for money-saving options. "The
long-term growth opportunities of our business remain very attractive,"
Corrections Corporation of America told investors in its annual report.
Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group posted combined profits
of more than $300 million in 2012. Their stocks have jumped 35 percent or
more in a year. In Mississippi, which has the nation's second-highest
incarceration rate, officials are suggesting alternatives such as reducing
low-risk offenses to misdemeanors, placing more inmates under house arrest,
and offering earlier parole. The court monitor's report about widespread
problems at Walnut Grove and other private prisons may accelerate those
discussions. "On its face, that's a huge disparity (between violence
rates at private prisons and state prisons). If inmates in private prisons
are not as safe as those in the state, something needs to be done about
it," Welch said. "The PEER (Performance Evaluation and Expenditure
Review) committee should investigate and come up with recommendations as to
whether the (private prison) contracts need to be changed, whether there are
performance requirements that ought to be included." Jody Owens,
managing staff attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said: "The
state has done a better job on keeping violence lower than private prisons
can …. Whatever discount private prisons offer, they do so at the jeopardy of
the inmates in their care." Kathryn Royals, a Jackson native, is a
graduate student in the mass communications program at LSU. She produced this
story using research from her thesis on private prisons in the state. Read
more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/20/4608209/report-private-prisons-in-state.html#storylink=cpy
June 14, 2012 Huffington Post
After years of widespread violence and sexual abuse at Mississippi's for-profit
prison for juvenile offenders, state officials and civil rights groups signed
a federal court decree in March aimed at overhauling a facility described by
a federal judge as "a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman
acts." U.S. Justice Department investigators found that both state
officials and the GEO Group Inc., the nation's second-largest operator of
private prisons, had essentially ignored the safety of youth prisoners,
denying them basic health care and employing guards with known gang affiliations.
Sexual misconduct between staff and inmates at the Walnut Grove youth prison
was "among the worst we have seen in any facility anywhere in the
nation," the Justice Department's investigation concluded. Yet two
months after a federal court settlement, violence and poor staffing have
persisted, including a fight that resulted in a young man being stabbed in
the eye, according to recent court transcripts. In response, a top
Mississippi state prison official recently testified that the state has no authority
to force the GEO Group to improve security at the chronically understaffed
facility, raising questions about the lines of authority for corrections
policy in Mississippi. "All we can do is make a request," said
Emmitt Sparkman, deputy commissioner of the Mississippi Department of
Corrections, in federal court testimony two weeks ago. He added that the GEO
Group was "under no obligation" to increase staffing under the
terms of its contract with the state. Though a federal judge found that state
officials "repeatedly failed to monitor the contracts with GEO,"
Mississippi plans to replace GEO with Management & Training Corp., a
private company responsible for one of the most tragic prison breaks in
recent memory. The GEO Group, which has donated more than $56,000 to
Mississippi elected officials over the past decade, did not respond to
questions about its contracts in the state. A spokeswoman for the Mississippi
Department of Corrections declined to make officials available for comment.
GEO Group has operated Walnut Grove since 2010, after acquiring the prison in
a merger with another prison corporation, Cornell Companies Inc.
June 7, 2012 WTOK
MTC will officially take over operation at East Mississippi Correctional
Facility on July 9th. The company got its start working with young people
outside the corrections system. The Vice President of Corrections at MTC
explained the company's history via a video news release. "We started 30
years ago by providing training for young adults to succeed in life,"
says Odie Washington, "we've taken that and applied it to our
corrections division. "All you are going to see is a change in the name
over the door," that's the opinion of Frank Smith, a private prison
watchdog, "it's not going to be a change in operations." Smith
works as a consultant for Private Corrections Working Group. "The
problem is there is such turnover that there is no mentoring process so
everybody is just kind of new on the job, and they don't know what to do when
the problems arise." MTC officials say they plan on providing EMCF with
all the resources it needs to operate effectively. "We'll provide each
facility the resources necessary for them to operate safely and
effectively," says Washington, and we look forward to applying these high
standards to our new Mississippi facilities as well." Only time will
tell whether MTC will have a successful run in the Magnolia State.
June 7, 2012 AP
A Utah-based private prison operator will take over management of three
Mississippi correctional institutions beginning in July. Management &
Training Corporation of Centreville, Utah, has signed 10-year operating
contracts for the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap
community beginning July 2; Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Walnut
Grove on July 9; and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly
Springs on Aug. 13. Financial details of the contracts were not made public.
The announcement came Thursday by the company and the Mississippi Department
of Corrections. The Corrections Department and the GEO Group of Boca Raton,
Fla., in April agreed to end GEO's management contract at the three prisons.
At the time Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps told the AP that the
department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons were
presented as a package to other corrections management companies. "The
Mississippi Department of Corrections is looking forward to a great
partnership with MTC," Epps said in a statement Thursday. "There is
a need for different types of prisons, including state and regional as well
as private facilities in Mississippi. MTC will be held to the same high
standards as set by MDOC and I feel extremely confident that MTC will do a
great job." "We look forward to the opportunity to work in Mississippi,"
said MTC senior vice president of corrections Odie Washington in the
statement. "We have partnered with state and federal governments in
operating correctional facilities for the past 25 years, and have a strong
record of providing safe, secure and well-run facilities."
May 20, 2012 WLBT
A celebration in Smith Park commemorated changes at Walnut Grove Youth
Correctional Facility. The Friends and Family Members of Youth Incarcerated
at Walnut Grove held a rally Sunday morning. Parents of children at the
facility thanked department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps for ending
the private prison contract with the GEO Group. They said their children were
mistreated under the company's management from being denied medical treatment
to education. "I would like to urge the commissioner to continue to do
the right thing by our children and to not allow another private, for profit
company to take over Walnut Grove," said Walnut Grove parent Kimberly
Carson. "The GEO Group is making money off of these young men. They don't
seem willing to spend any of that money to make sure they have been properly
rehabilitated," said Walnut Grove parent Marietta Larry. GEO managed
Walnut Grove and the East Mississippi and Marshall County Correctional
facilities until last month.
April 24, 2012 NPR
In 2010, former inmate Ross Walton describes mistreatment he says inmates
received from guards. Faced with a court order to reform the Walnut Grove
juvenile prison, the company managing the prison is leaving Mississippi. One
month after a federal court ordered sweeping changes at a troubled juvenile
prison in rural Mississippi, the private company managing the prison has
announced it is pulling out of the state. A report by the Justice Department
describes "systemic, egregious and dangerous practices" at the
Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility. As those words imply, the official
report is scathing. Federal Judge Carlton Reeves wrote that the youth prison
"has allowed a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts and
conditions to germinate, the sum of which places the offenders at substantial
ongoing risk." Walnut Grove, located an hour's drive east of Jackson, is
a 1,450-bed prison that houses inmates ages 13 to 22 who are minors convicted
as adults. It is run by GEO Group of Boca Raton, Fla., the nation's
second-largest for-profit prison corporation, which posted a profit of $284
million last year. The Mississippi Department of Corrections pays GEO to
manage the prison. Jonathan Smith is chief of special litigation in the civil
rights section at the Justice Department, which spent two years looking into
conditions at Walnut Grove. "To have a prison that's chaotic, poorly
run, dangerous, didn't provide services, highly sexualized and highly violent
really limits the ability of the state to turn those folks around, and to
ensure public safety upon their release from prison," Smith said. Among
the conditions described in the report released last month: Prison staff had
sex with incarcerated youth, which investigators called "among the worst
that we've seen in any facility anywhere in the nation." Poorly trained
guards brutally beat youth and used excessive pepper spray as a first
response. The prison showed "deliberate indifference" to prisoners
possessing homemade knives, which were used in gang fights and inmate rapes.
Some guards had gang affiliations — a finding confirmed to NPR last year by
former inmate Justin Bowling. "A lot of times, the guards are in the
same gang," Bowling said. "If an inmate wanted something done, they
got it. If they wanted a cell popped open to handle some business about some
fighting or something like that, it just pretty much happened." A GEO
spokesman said via email that the abuses documented by the government
occurred before GEO took over Walnut Grove in late 2010. Another private
prison company, Cornell Companies, ran the Walnut Grove facility until
Cornell was purchased by GEO. At the Justice Department, Jonathan Smith does
not accept that statement. He said troubles at the prison continued after GEO
stepped in. In an interview last Thursday, Mississippi state Corrections
Commissioner Chris Epps had nothing but praise for GEO. "Since GEO took
over August 2010, have there been incidents? The answer is yes," he
said. "Will there be more? The answer is yes. But they're doing better,
and I'm pleased with it." On Friday, the news broke that GEO was pulling
out of all three prisons in Mississippi that it manages by July. Later that
day, Epps had changed his tune. He told The Associated Press that a new
operator at all three state prisons may "do a better job in the
operation of the facilities" than GEO did. GEO did not give a reason why
it was pulling out of Mississippi. Last week, CEO George Zoley
said the company was discontinuing its contract at the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility that houses inmates with mental illness because the
facility had been "financially underperforming." The Walnut Grove
Youth Correctional Facility houses 1,200 boys and young men east of Jackson,
Miss. The Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility houses 1,200 boys and
young men east of Jackson, Miss. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU
have been investigating reports of abuse and inmate suicides at the GEO-run
East Mississippi Correctional Facility, located near the city of Meridian.
Sheila Bedi, deputy legal director at the Southern
Poverty Law Center, said that her group is considering legal action against
the prison. Regarding Walnut Grove, Bedi said
whoever takes over management of the facility, at least the juvenile offenders
held there will be safer under the court order. "Some of the more
significant relief includes an agreement to remove all children from that
facility, and to put them in a stand-alone unit that will be operated by the
Mississippi Department of Corrections and governed by juvenile justice, as
opposed to adult correctional standards," she said. The state
corrections commissioner said they'll be looking for a new operator for the
three GEO-run prisons. With one of the prisons under a stern federal court
order and another prison the possible target of a class-action lawsuit in the
future, it remains to be seen how attractive those properties will be for a
private company.
April 20, 2012 AP
The Mississippi Department of Corrections says GEO Group Inc., one of the
country's largest private prison operators, will no longer manage three
facilities in Mississippi. On Thursday, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based company
said it was backing out of a contract to manage the East Mississippi
Correctional Facility near the Lost Gap community by July 19. Company
officials told The Associated Press on Friday that it had nothing else to
say. Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps told the AP on Friday that the
department felt it might get a better price if all three prisons were presented
as a package to other corrections management companies. Epps said he would
expect GEO Group to end its ties to the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional
Facility in Walnut Grove and Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly
Springs by July 20. "We feel this may be a golden opportunity to provide
a better price for the taxpayers of the state and at the same time maybe do a
better job in the operation of the facilities," Epps said. "That's
what I would like to see." Epps said there was some concern at MDOC
about incidents at all three prisons. The Walnut Grove facility is presently
under a federal court order to remove juvenile inmates amid allegations of
physical and sexual abuse. That court order came in a settlement of a lawsuit
filed against Walnut Grove in 2010. GEO Group has repeatedly declined to
comment on the lawsuit. Epps has said his plan is to send the 17-and-younger
inmates to Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County by Oct.
1. He said there are about 1,000 vacant beds at that prison now, so there is
no need for a new building. Walnut Grove also houses adults. They would
remain there under a settlement that ended a 2010 lawsuit. Epps said Friday
that local authority boards deal with management contracts at EMCF and Walnut
Grove with MDOC help. He said MDOC works directly with vendors at Marshall
County. "There are a lot of these management companies out there. We're
reaching out to those private operators to see what the best proposal is we
might get," he said. In its announcement, GEO chairman/CEO George C. Zoley said EMCF was "financially
underperforming." GEO Group vice president Pablo E. Paez
said Friday the company would have no other comment.
March 29, 2012 Sun Herald
A federal judge has approved an agreement that would move juvenile
offenders out of a privately run prison that has been hounded by allegations
of physical and sexual abuse. The settlement was reached between civil rights
advocates and the state of Mississippi in a 2010 lawsuit. U.S. District Judge
Carlton Reeves approved the agreement in a March 26 order made public
Thursday. Reeves had harsh words for the state in his order noting that
officials "have been derelict in their duties and remain deliberately
indifferent to the serious medical and mental health needs of the
offenders." "The sum of these actions and inactions ... paints a
picture of such horror as should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized
world," Reeves wrote. Walnut Grove opened in 2001 in Leake
County and holds inmates ages 13-22 who were minors convicted as adults. It
was run by the private prison firm Cornell Companies Inc. until Cornell was
acquired by the GEO Group Inc. in a $730 million deal in 2010. GEO Group of
Boca Raton, Fla., is now the nation's second largest private prison company.
The company has declined to comment on the lawsuit. Reeves said the
misconduct was widespread. He said the facility was "deliberately
indifferent to the serious and substantial risk of harm to which these youth
are subjected." "And to add one final insult to these injuries,
State officials repeatedly failed to monitor the contracts with GEO and
simply rewarded the company by either extending or offering new contracts, or
by not revoking the existing contract despite 'systemic, egregious, and
dangerous practices exacerbated by a lack of accountability and
controls.'" Reeves said. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the American
Civil Liberties Union and Jackson attorney Robert McDuff sued the state over
conditions at the facility in 2010. The class action suit claimed guards
smuggled drugs to inmates, had sex with some of them and denied others
medical treatment and basic educational services. The sides reached a
proposed settlement in February that would require youth to be moved to a
facility governed by juvenile justice standards. Mississippi Corrections
Commissioner Chris Epps has said his plan is to send the 17-and-younger
inmates to Central Mississippi Correctional Facility by Oct. 1. He said there
are about 1,000 vacant beds at CMCF now, so there is no need for a new
building.
March 24, 2012 AP
A federal judge is considering whether to approve an agreement that would
move juvenile offenders out of a privately-run prison that has been hounded
by allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Six young inmates from Walnut
Grove Correctional Facility attended a hearing in Jackson on Thursday and
urged U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves to approve the settlement reached
between civil rights advocates and the state of Mississippi in a 2010
lawsuit. The hearing came just two days after the Justice Department issued a
scathing report that said sexual |
