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.
Contact Jimmie E. Gates at 601-961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.