Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Epps and McCrory plead guilty (Updated w/ sketches)

 Note: Special thanks to artist Bill Wilson for the courtroom sketches published in this post.

Former MDOC Chris Epps pleaded guilty to bribery and tax evasion in federal court this morning.  Former Rankin County School Board member and Representative Cecil McCrory pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy this afternoon. Both defendants faced Judge Henry Wingate. 


Epps must return to court on June 9 for sentencing while McCrory will return on June 10 for the same purpose.  The latest court filing states:

Change of Plea Hearing as to Christopher B. Epps held on 2/25/2015. The defendant pled GUILTY to Counts 23 and 44 of the indictment. The Plea Agreement, Plea Supplement, and Agreed Preliminary Order of Forfeiture were made a part of the record. ( Sentencing set for 6/9/2015 09:30 AM in Courtroom 6A (Jackson) Wingate before District Judge Henry T. Wingate ). The defendant was allowed to remain free on current bond under the same conditions and restrictions as set forth.


Change of Plea Hearing as to Cecil McCrory held on 2/25/2015. The defendant pled GUILTY to Count 23 of the indictment. The Plea Agreement, Plea Supplement, and Agreed Preliminary Order of Forfeiture were made a part of the record. The Plea Supplement will be filed UNDER SEAL and filed in the Clerk's office. ( Sentencing set for 6/10/2015 09:30 AM in Courtroom 6A (Jackson) Wingate before District Judge Henry T. Wingate ). The defendant was allowed to remain free on current bond under the same conditions and restrictions as set forth. 







Attorney John Collette represented Chris Epps while Don Leland represented Cecil McCrory.
 

Forfeiture order for Chris Epps
 Forfeiture order for Cecil McCrory





53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bigger fish to fry??

Anonymous said...

http://www.wjtv.com/story/28093828/state-rep-bennett-malone-resigns

Anonymous said...

Who did he give up for the deal? I am betting over 5 people.

Anonymous said...

There are some other folks scattered around the State who are now experiencing a sphincter factor of about 9.6. These 2 are not going down alone.

Anonymous said...

2 counts huh? Epps must be getting his singing voice ready!

Anonymous said...

I guess the rounding up of all the other participants will begin soon. What a sad day for Mississippi!

Anonymous said...

Hope the many who are accomplices will be brought to justice as well.

Anonymous said...

Why only the two counts?

Anonymous said...

Does he get his picture on the MDOC wall of shame where he put the photos of MDOC employees that screwed up?

Anonymous said...

50 Shades of corrupt and guilty!

Anonymous said...

Looks like Epps beat McCrory to the punch. Takes a deal and hammers McCrory at trial as a prosecution witness.
Let's just hope they both serve some serious time.

Anonymous said...

Disagree 11:07, it's a good day.

Anonymous said...

10:13. Exactly!! Big time. With Teresa

Anonymous said...

There's no one left to get. Feel's disinterested, outside task force told us the coast is clear.

Anonymous said...

Epps sang a long time ago. He was wearing a wire. More to come. When it got to Bennie Thompson Eric Holder at Justice stepped in and shut it down.

Anonymous said...

mccrory cut the deal as a witness. Epps will be almost 80 years old when he is released. no other government defendants, the trail leads to people doj will never approve prosecution of...

Anonymous said...

Where is Kenny Wayne Jones???

Anonymous said...


Neither one will probably do a day in prison. McCrory must have had "in-house" advice when he was conspiring with Epps. And all of them getting wealthy off the backs of the MS taxpayers. Disgusting!

Anonymous said...

Don't forget McCrory's son wants your vote in the next election, Rankin County.

Anonymous said...

In my recent experience watching the US Atty, these two plead to the counts that they were dead to rights on and believe me, they will serve time. If you plead to a felony in federal court, you will serve. There's no "suspended" sentence or probation or anything like that.

Anonymous said...

there are federal felonies where straight probation is imposed, but just a few.

the sentencing guidelines will aggregate the loss from ALL counts, not just the ones plead to, and since that loss is monumental, the sentence will be harsh with respect to the defendants ages.

this is typical of the government, to indict on a huge number of counts, then settle on relatively few of them. SOP per federal prosecutors...

Anonymous said...

@3:34 You want us to visit the sins of the father on the son? As a Rankin County resident, I would hate to see us lose a young man who is by all accounts a dedicated public servant and an excellent judge to a "guilt by association" ploy.

Anonymous said...

So, who did they sing on??

Anonymous said...

Did I miss where Chris forfeited his PERS?

Anonymous said...

Why is the Plea Bargain SEALED. What are they hiding.

Anonymous said...

I love it when you commission the sketches!

Anonymous said...

4:56 - Check out his plea agreement and you can see he got to keep his PERS. It looks like it had been listed for forfeiture at one point but ultimately he got to keep it. Might all go to pay Colette though.

Anonymous said...

It's the Twenty-first Century, but... (Bill did a GREAT job) why are we looking at artist renderings instead of video/photos? Jeez we may as well be looking at old west "Wanted" posters for the unknown race, unknown height, unknown vehicle, unknown direction bandit.

Anonymous said...

4:38,

Hell yes I would visit the sins of the father onto the son. Here's why: that son will profit from his father's stealing when his daddy dies. Hell, no way he gets elected the first time without Daddy's pull. The family is poison, and as a Rankin County voter I'm disgusted he has the gall to run after how much his father stole from the entire freaking state.

The son should go quietly into the night. That's what a man with some small amount of self-respect would do. Shit, shame alone should keep him out of public service.

Anonymous said...

I love it when you commission the sketches!

HIT the tip jar!

Kingfish said...

I never wanted this for Josh. Governor McCrory, Senator McCrory. There just wasn't enough time.

Anonymous said...

We in Mississippi ought to be very glad we have an active US Attorney office - and to Michael Hurst, the AUSA that has handled these corruption cases. We can't depend on our AG to do this - he might feel like Epps and McCrory are like family to him

Anonymous said...

Please let Frontier be part of this.

Anonymous said...

Josh McCrory has a good opponet, vote for him!

Anonymous said...

@3:34pm & 8:58pm & 10:25pm, do you want Josh McCrory to be responsible for the crime committed by his father? If Josh did anything wrong, don't you think he would have been indicted? Since when did anyone become guilty by being related to someone that committed a crime? If you believe someone is guilty because a relative committed a crime, then look at Josh's opponent, Criss Zebert, whose brother Jason Zebert just pled guilty to embezzling almost $200,000 from a veteran. Your logic is ridiculous unless of course you are Criss and you hoped people wouldn't realize your brother is a crook. Also, remember Criss went to law school, failed the bar exam several times, is not licensed to practice law, and has never held a real job. Imagine him telling lawyers they failed to prove their case when he can't even get a law license. Do you want him deciding the outcome of trials?

Anonymous said...

Nice try, 11:19.

Cecil funneled nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS to companies he was associated with. If Josh can promise us taxpayers that he, his wife, children, grandchildren etc. will never profit from Cecil's ill-gotten gains then maybe, possibly, he should seek the public's favor. You should be demanding a full and very public denunciation by Josh. Oh, and profit also includes real estate jointly owned with Cecil, especially those parcels zoned commercial.

And just to be clear, even by common core standards is 1,000,000,000>200,000.


I am not Zebert, although now I will look him up and see what qualifications he has.

Man Done Well For Himself said...

I don't think even the feds have the ability to require that a convict give up his MS PERS retirement. I have no clue what the man was making, but, on the assumption he was making 130,000 with 35 years of service, he will for the rest of his life draw at least that amount. When you throw in 13th checks, after the passage of, say ten years, the 13th check will probably be another 50k on top of annual draw. Again, this is only an illustration.

If he opted, at retirement, to also cover his surviving spouse, these figures will be a bit lower but she will get the same for the rest of her life after he dies. On top of all this is his set aside in the program similar to a 401.

Disclaimer: These are not exact PERS calculations, just ballparks, and Kingfish may wish to challenge them.

Anonymous said...

didn't Josh have his hands on some of the contracts his dad had greased thru Epps to get paid?

Anonymous said...

@9:26, if your statement infers criminal conduct by Josh, why didn't Josh get indicted? Oh wait, . . . . thankfully our judicial system is supposed to not presume someone guilty! If you are Josh's opponent or a supporter of Josh's opponent, does the public want a judge who presumes people guilty? I hope not and neither should the public.

Anonymous said...

10:58,

Child, please. What if Daddy's plea bargain included a stipulation to not indict Josh? The government gets a quick plea deal and the son skates. It's all a part of the game, right?

No Shat said...

How interesting that Epps told the reporter's mic, when leaving court yesterday, "There's not a day that this don't cross my mind several, several, several times". Ya reckon?

Anonymous said...

If Josh wasn't involved Cecil shoulde have used a different lawyer, he certainly could afford to!

Anonymous said...

I love the watching the Godfather movies too KF. Good reporting.

Anonymous said...

12:27, you said "What if Daddy's plea bargain included a stipulation to not indict Josh?" If that happened, it would be listed as part of the plea deal. Let's hope that if you are ever accused of anything, the prosecutor (and judge and jury if you are indicted), makes decisions based on FACTS not speculation.

Anonymous said...

12:27 or Josh, if they send you to jail you might should cut your hair as to not look like a little girl!

Anonymous said...

Judge McCrory is a wonderful judge and very respected by this attorney who practices in front of him quite regularly.

I hope his father's crimes do not ruin his judicial career.

Anonymous said...

11:12
His hands are on the paper work regarding the contracts.
You recon he didn't know that snake-oil father of his wasn't the best salesman in the world?
Guilty Guilty Guilty

Follow The Yellow Brick Road said...

Anybody close to McCrory and anybody close to Epps needs to be (and probably is) under close scrutiny. Bank accounts, recent home purchases,automobiles, vacation trips, weddings, toys and expensive items on a judge's or state employee's salary....

Anonymous said...

Whose next in this terrible matter? KF I know you have the list. Let us have a sneak peek.

Anonymous said...

This is a joke of the justice system. just because they are well known in the community the two should not get a slap on the wrist. A first time drug offense holds a 30 years. 44 indictments and only 23 stand with no more than a 20 year sentence. Wake up people this is my tax dollars that pay for the prison systems.I think they should get what every joe on the street would get! This is why so many people doubt law enforcement and the government. Its not about what you know its who you know it all corrupt all the way to the top!All forfieted money should be put back into the prison. these two men should not see the light off day fair is fair you do the crime do the time!

Anonymous said...

The two men are rats who just know the right people.Take an average person and see their sentence.They would be slammed under the jail cell.A first time offender for a hundred dollars of drugs is 30 years. The max is twenty for multiple felonies.How did all the felonies disappear I wonder????I suggest give all forfeited money back to the prison system where it belonged in the first place.Its a travesty to the people of Mississippi then they wonder why people don't believe in a just judicial system or law enforcement. Its all about who knows who! these men will get theirs one day in heaven. money cant save them from hell.

Anonymous said...

I don't know about your heaven 10:23, but Wingate has a history of being very hard on common people who commit crimes and end up before him.

I have no reason to think he'll do any differently here.

Kingfish said...

Whose next in this terrible matter? KF I know you have the list. Let us have a sneak peek.

If you've been reading the site on a regular basis, you have the list.



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