Last person charged in prison bribery scheme to plead guilty

Published 10:10 pm Tuesday, April 24, 2018

JACKSON (AP) — The final person facing charges in an alleged kickback scheme involving Mississippi’s former corrections commissioner is scheduled to plead guilty Tuesday.

Federal court records show insurance agent Guy “Butch” Evans will waive indictment and plead guilty to a separate charge that prosecutors had not yet filed as of Monday

A grand jury indicted Evans in 2016 on charges of conspiracy and bribery, which carry a possible prison sentence of up to 30 years.

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The indictment says Evans paid more than $20,000 in bribes to then-Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps in exchange for the exclusive right to sell insurance to prison system employees.

Epps acknowledged accepting more than $1.4 million in bribes from private contractors and is serving a nearly 20-year prison sentence. Eight other people have been convicted so far.