Cecil McCrory (born December 1, 1951) is a former Mississippi state legislator, justice court judge, Rankin County school board president and businessman. He was indicted in November 2014 for corruption related to his dealings with prison industry contractors. It was later revealed that he become an informant in the investigation, along with his partner in crime, ex-Commissioner of Corrections in Mississippi, Chris Epps. Epps was sentenced to 235 months and McCrory to 102 months in federal prison. Both men were fined and ordered to pay restitution. McCrory is being held at the Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega, Alabama, with a scheduled release date of April 24, 2025.Inmate Locator, Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved December 26, 2018. Pleaded guilty Sentenced Sentence Started serving Current location February 25, 2015 February 3, 2017 8 1/2 years November 30, 2017 Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega, AL
Personal With only a high school education, McCrory, from Brandon, Mississippi, became a Justice Court judge, in 1980. Four years later, he became an investigator with the Rankin County sheriff's office. In 1987, he was elected to the state legislature. He lost reelection to a third term in 1995. In 1996, Cecil became a lobbyist.https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/11/08/alleged-kickback-scheme-mccrorys-connections-vast/18739671/ Alleged kickback scheme: McCrory's connections vast, Clarion Ledger, Emily Le Coz, November 8, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2018.Rankin County jury awards $3.3 million in DUI Homicide case, Jackson Jambalaya, James Hendrix, September 18, 2009, Retrieved December 3, 2018. In 1997, he began making payments to Epps, and MDOC manager. In 2000, he became a Rankin County Supervisor, though he only held the office for five months. In 2002, he partnered with Sam Waggoner, who became involved in the MDOC corruption schemes. In 2005, he started G.T. Enterprises of Mississippi, and won the MDOC's commissary services contract. Four months later, he sold that business at a substantial profit to Keefe Commissary Network. In 2008, he became a Rankin County School Board member, a position he held until he resigned when his indictment became public in November 2014.
Cecil and his wife, Janice had two children: Joshua and Courtney. In 2000, the car in which Courtney was riding was hit by an inebriated trucker, and she was killed. As a result, in 2009, the McCrory family was awarded $3,333,189 in damages. Josh became a justice court judge.
As an attorney Josh became counsel in numerous corrections-related lawsuits, defending East Mississippi State Prison, representing MDOC prisoners against Wackenhut, Keefe Commissary, and other cases.Joshua Cecil McCrory represented MDOC employees, EMCF in lawsuits, Jackson Jambalaya, James Hendrix, November 8, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
Criminal conspiracies
G.T. Enterprises, which held a no-bid Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) contract for inmate services, beginning in 2006, was owned by Cecil McCrory. It had revenues of over $3.2 million in gross revenue in 2007 and 2008, through MDOC. McCrory sold the company to Keefe Commissary Network in November 2008 from which it earned over $40.4 million. The Keefe contract was renewed several times and was due to expire in August 2015. The contracts were signed by then-Commissioner Chris Epps. Keefe processed inmate deposits and inmate trust funds, and sales of prepaid debit cards. The contract also had given GT the right to sell commissary products at the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility which McCrory's management company also operated. The company withheld 20% and 24% exclusive of sales tax from gross sales to inmates. The amount increased to 28% in 2007. Cecil McCrory also owned prisoner telephone providers Correctional Communications Inc and Mississippi Correctional Communications, Inc. The registered agent for both companies was Sam Waggoner III. Epps resigned as commissioner MDOC on November 5, 2014, during the federal investigation and the day before he and McCrory were indicted on federal charges of bribery and kickbacks. Epps had received what may have been more than $2 million in bribes from Cecil McCrory and others. McCrory had most recently been a consultant for Management and Training Corporation (MTC) of Utah, a major for-profit prison operating company; at the time, it had a $60 million contract in Mississippi to operate four prisons.Nave, R.L. "MDOC Scandal Highlights Privatization Problems", Jackson Free Press. November 12, 2014. Retrieved on December 4, 2018.Amy, Jeff. "Ex-Prison Boss and Businessman Admit to Bribery Scheme" (). Associated Press at San Diego Union Tribune. February 25, 2013. Retrieved on December 4, 2018.
In February 2017, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood announced he had filed civil cases for damages and punitive damages against 11 corporations and individuals who had engaged in contracts with the MDOC and Epps. He said that state law required the companies and consultants to pay back the value of their contracts.
Legal issues
On November 6, 2014 the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi announced that it had indicted Epps on corruption charges related to his dealings with the for-profit prison industry. The federal indictment stated that Cecil McCrory, a Republican former state House member from 1988-1994 and a businessman who served as the chairperson of the Rankin County School District's board of education, paid Epps kickbacks and bribes totaling more than $1 million. His payments included payment of part of the mortgage of Epps' primary residence in the Jackson area. Epps leveraged the resulting increased equity together with another bribe payment to buy a condominium; he later traded up the latter for a larger, more expensive condo.
In exchange, Epps directed contracts to McCrory-owned companies, such as a no-bid contract to his G.T. Enterprises, which provided commissary services, as well as to companies that hired McCrory as a paid consultant. Per the indictment, the activity started in 2007 and ended on March 12, 2014. Epps entered an initial plea of not guilty, and he received a bond of $25,000.Estwick, Tammy. "Epps pleads not guilty to federal bribery charges" (Archive). WAPT. November 7, 2014. Retrieved on December 4, 2018. According to Leake County Sheriff Greg Waggoner, the investigation was initiated after an attempt by MDOC to cover-up a sexual assault of an inmate of a transitional facility in Walnut Grove, Mississippi. The FBI launched an investigation which eventually focused on Epps, naming it "Mississippi Hustle".
In November 2014 Governor Phil Bryant ordered rebids of the contracts that had been awarded by Epps. To review existing contracts, he appointed a 5-member task force, which included Mike Moore, a Democrat. Moore was Mississippi's Attorney General from 1988 to 2004. During the mid-1990s, he served on a board that oversaw prison construction projects authorized after the state was sued because of overcrowding and substandard conditions. Mississippi also was beginning to use for-profit contractors to operate some prisons, some of which were privately owned by such contractors.Prison-contract task force working in wake of Epps' indictment , Mississippi Business Journal, November 23, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2018."Bryant orders prison contracts rebid" (Archive). WAPT. November 7, 2014. Retrieved on December 4, 2018. Bryant had received a $1,000 campaign contribution from McCrory. After learning of the indictments, he donated this money to the Salvation Army."Bryant orders rebidding of contracts in wake of Epps' indictment" , Mississippi Business Journal, November 7, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
In February 2015 Epps pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges in a plea bargain: one count of filing a false tax return and one count of conspiracy to launder money."Former commissioner Of Mississippi Department of Corrections and local businessman plead guilty in federal court" (Archive). United States Department of Justice. Retrieved on December 4, 2018. Version at the website of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Epps said he began taking gratuities from McCrory in 1997, before he became commissioner and while McCrory was still a state legislator.Mitchell, Jerry and Jimmie E. Gates. "Chris Epps, Cecil McCrory plead guilty to corruption" (). The Clarion-Ledger. February 25, 2015. Retrieved on December 4, 2018.
McCrory plea bargained to lesser federal charges. He had long worked as a consultant to prison contractors: first to Cornell Companies of Houston, Texas, which built and operated the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Mississippi, and the GEO Group (which acquired Cornell). McCrory received consulting fees from GEO's next successor, Utah's Management and Training Corporation. In 2015 MTC held a $60 million contract to operate four Mississippi prisons, including Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, which had previously been operated by the Corrections Corporation of America, now known as CoreCivic.
Upon the disclosure of the indictments, MTC fired McCrory, claiming they knew nothing of his criminal activities. According to the indictments, MTC confirmed that it paid McCrory $12,000 a month and had hired him at Epps’ recommendation. The company said that Epps had not forced it to hire McCrory. MTC spokesman Issa Arnita said that Epps “made us aware of the fee McCrory had charged in the past to other contractors” and that McCrory had worked for GEO Group, the Boca Raton, Florida for-profit prison firm, which had previously held the contracts in Mississippi that MTC was awarded. “MTC was not aware of any alleged inappropriate relationships between Mr. Epps and Mr. McCrory or that Mr. Epps was allegedly a participant in any way in the contract with McCrory.”
The indictment recounted a 2012 conversation between Epps and McCrory, quoting Epps as telling McCrory that he had persuaded MTC to hire him, and they were to split MTC's payments after taxes. According to the indictment, Epps said, “I got us $12,000 per month.”Firm fires McCrory in wake of Epps' bribery indictment , Mississippi Business Journal, November 11, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
Epps and McCrory blamed each other for beginning the bribery scheme. Their sentencing was first scheduled for June 9, 2015, but a day earlier, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi said the sentencing was indefinitely delayed, as prosecutors were pursuing additional indictments.Gates, Jimmie E. "Former MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps' sentencing delayed" (). The Clarion-Ledger. June 8, 2015. Retrieved on December 4, 2018.
The federal government indicted many others of those who allegedly bribed Epps, such as Mark Longoria, CEO of Drug Testing Corporation of Houston, Texas, who pleaded guilty in August 2016. Longoria was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $368,000 and ordered to forfeit $131,000 on February 14, 2017.Texan gets 5 years in prison for bribing Mississippi official, Washington Times, Jeff Amy (AP), February 14, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2018. He is being held at Federal Correctional Institution, Forrest City, Arkansas, with an anticipated release date of September 13, 2021.Inmate Locator, Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved December 3, 2018.