Global Tel Link Mississippi Prison RICO, Bribery, and Money Laundering Class Action

This class action is one of eleven RICO lawsuits filed by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood against individual and corporate conspirators in a Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) prison bribery scandal. The scandal involves kickbacks, fraud, money laundering, and other wrongful conduct.

Global Tel Link (GTL) provides inmate telephone calling (ICS) and other services to inmates in Mississippi jails. This class action alleges that GTL paid bribes to Mississippi Department of Corrections commissioner Christopher Epps through Sam Waggoner, who was hired as a “consultant” by GTL. GTL, Epps, and Waggoner are defendants in this case.

According to the case’s RICO statement, GTL paid Epps over $300,000 in bribes for exclusive control over inmate telephone calls in prisons operated by MDOC, then charged inmates exorbitant rates and extra fees that it was not authorized to charge.

The statement claims that, in exchange for the bribes, Epps granted GTL the exclusive control over inmate phone calls, violated Mississippi’s public bid laws by recommending renewal of GTL’s contract without the re-bidding the laws required, and allowed GTL to charge the high rates and extra fees. Epps has already pleaded guilty to some federal offenses related to bribery and kickbacks and is currently serving time in federal prison.

The statement also claims that Waggoner was a GTL “agent and consultant” who served as the bagman between Epps and GTL. The statement says he split his 5% commission with Epps and also served GTL’s interests by advocating for new and more expensive services. Waggoner has also pleaded guilty to federal offenses, named dates on which he handed over bribes, and said, “When I was at his house, I’d just put it on the counter by him. And if we’re having lunch, I’d just hand it to him.”

In addition, the statement includes illegal money laundering for the proceeds of the scheme. USA Today claims that Epps “was raking in so much in bribes that he had to launder the money through his home mortgage and a beachfront condo, at one point even driving all over town making $9,000 cash deposits” (since deposits of $10,000 and up require more scrutiny from banks).

The lawsuit requests treble damages as well as punitive damages for the plaintiffs. The Attorney General is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in the various cases, in addition to forcing the defendants to forfeit all gains from their illegal activities. 

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic:
Tags: Incarceration, RICO laws