On November 6, 2014, the acting United States attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, Harold Brittain, announced indictments he had obtained against the Commissioner Epps and his associate Cecil McCrory.
These bribes had been passed through McCrory and another consultant, Robert Simmons, and had been structured to fall beneath the mandated reporting amount so they would not come to the attention of federal banking authorities.
[4] His remarks were made in the period that the Southern District of Mississippi's U.S. Attorney said Epps was receiving more than $700,000 in bribes, including the purchase of a beachfront condo on his behalf.
On November 1, 2016, while still awaiting sentencing, Epps was arrested for breaking and entering the home he had forfeited to the federal government as a part of his plea bargain.
[6] The East Mississippi Correctional Facility was another private prison operated by Florida's GEO Group, then by Utah's Management and Training Corporation.
[6] Walnut Grove was to be a model transition center to support newly released inmates in adjusting to life outside prison as part of a state effort.
The center charged newly released inmates $20 a day for room and board in dormitories and was paid a supplement of $6 daily, per bed, by the MDOC.
[11][12] In November 2014, former State Auditor-turned Governor Phil Bryant ordered rebids of the four operating contracts for prisons that had been awarded by Epps to Utah-based Management and Training Corporation (MTC).
Bryant directed interim Corrections Commissioner Richard McCarty to stop negotiations with MTC over renewing a $60-million-a-year contract to manage four private prisons, which held over 4,000 state inmates.
[17] On August 22, 2015, the US Attorney announced the indictment of Irb Benjamin for bribing Epps in connection with the drug and alcohol treatment programs that his company provided under contract to MDOC prisons.
Benjamin formed his business MCM in 1996 when the state Department of Corrections and counties started hiring private contractors to operate prisons and smaller regional jails.
Benjamin said the company also had jail accreditation contracts worth $4,000 or $5,000 per month with other counties, including Chickasaw, Hancock, Holmes, Marion, Pearl River, Washington, and Yazoo.
[25] Benjamin said that he was "pressured" by Epps; the contractor estimated he had paid the Commissioner between $180,000 and $225,000 in cash bribes to secure support for his contracts to operate the regional jails.
[23] Robert Simmons, a consultant, was indicted for giving kickbacks to Epps from three contractors involved in constructing expansions of the Walnut Grove and East Mississippi correctional facilities on February 11, 2016.
[28] Epps and McCrory's sentencing, scheduled for July 19, 2016, was delayed again by Wingate to give their defense lawyers additional time to review materials concerning how much money was gained by the 15 corporations that paid bribes to the pair.
[34] Assistant USAG LaMarca had announced in June 2016 that eleven additional subjects of the investigation may face criminal charges in the Epps' bribery cases.
On June 30, John Colette, Epps' defense attorney, said he had received more than 1,500 pages of documents in the previous week and would require at least 30 days to review them.
[49] [50] She was being held at the FMC Carswell, in Fort Worth, Texas, with a scheduled release date of July 24, 2022, but was moved to the Residential Reentry Management program located on Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.
[56] Epps forfeited his investment and bank accounts, his $310,000 Flowood residence, a $237,601 Gulf Coast condo, and a pair of Mercedes-Benz vehicles to resolve a $1,300,000 judgment against him.
U.S. Attorney Michael Hurst of the Southern District of Mississippi thanked Moore for "coming forward and working with [him] to catch those who violate our corruption laws".
[58] Sims was also ordered by then-Mississippi state auditor Stacey Pickering to repay $31,530 for using city employees and equipment to work on the Correctional Facility and the privately owned Transitional Center on October 25, 2011.
[60] On September 15, 2016, Biloxi consultant Robert A. Simmons was sentenced by Judge Sul Ozerden to seven years and three months for his part in the MDOC bribery scandal.
[60] Among other persons charged with bribing Epps, Irb Benjamin, a former state legislator and Alcorn County jail warden, pleaded guilty on October 18, 2016.
[23] Benjamin is being held at the minimum security Federal Correctional Institution, Forrest City, Arkansas, with an anticipated release date of June 13, 2022.
[33] He was to report to prison on November 30, 2017, and as of December 17, 2017, McCrory is being held at the Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega, Alabama, with an anticipated release date of April 24, 2025.
[60] On November 1, 2016, while out on bail and awaiting sentencing, Epps was arrested by the Flowood, Mississippi Police Department and charged with breaking into his former primary residence, which he had given up to the federal government as part of his plea agreement.
The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, Darren LaMarca, recommended a sentence of 13 years due to the substantial cooperation Epps provided, which FBI agent Ty Breedlove characterized to the court as one of the best confidential sources in his career.
[40][41] On August 18, 2019, the four Louisiana businessmen—Michael LeBlanc Sr.; his son, Michael Jr.; Tawasky L. Ventroy; and Jacque B. Jackson—agreed to plead guilty to certain charges, though the specifics were not released to the public.
Hood said "the state of Mississippi has been defrauded through a pattern of bribery, kickbacks, misrepresentations, fraud, concealment, money laundering and other wrongful conduct.
[88] On May 19, 2020, the Mississippi appeals court ruled against Epps and his wife Catherjean who had litigated against paying $69,489, their tax liabilities for the years 2007-2014, that had been retroactively assessed on those ill-gotten gains emanating from the later discovery of the bribery schemes.