Thursday, March 12, 2015

Auditor says deceased Supervisor was target

This AP story almost got away from me.  State Auditor Stacey Pickering told the Associated Press on February 27 that Harrison County Supervisor Lawrence Martin (deceased) was a target in the MDOC investigation:

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's state auditor says an indicted county official who committed suicide had been targeted in a prison corruption case, and he is predicting that more charges are to come.

State Auditor Stacey Pickering says Harrison County Supervisor William Martin's indictment had been "the next step" in the corruption investigation that began with former Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps and Brandon businessman Cecil McCrory.

Authorities say Martin killed himself before dawn Thursday, hours before his scheduled arraignment on federal charges of bribery and witness tampering. He had been indicted last week.

Pickering says he expects more people will face charges in the inquiry.

Epps and McCrory pleaded guilty Wednesday to a bribery scheme where McCrory channeled $1.5 million in cash to Epps as Epps awarded contracts to McCrory and companies he represented.
Mr. Martin was indicted by the U.S. Attorney for bribery and witness tampering (obstruction of justice).  He was supposed to be arraigned on February 26 but committed suicide.  JJ reported on February 27:

A company that was a prime beneficiary of MDOC's no-bid contract policy under Chris Epps also landed a lucrative contract with Harrison County for providing medical services to its inmates. MDOC paid Health Assurance, LLC more than $49 million for medical services to MDOC prisons from 2003 to 2014 while Harrison paid more than $14 million.  Incredibly, the dates of the payments coincide with dates cited by prosecutors for when now-deceased Harrison County Supervisor William Martin accepted bribes in his indictment.....

 The Martin indictment states:


That from on or about January 2005 through on or about August 2012,  in Harrison County, in the Southern Division of the Southern District of Mississippi and elsewhere, that the defendant, William Martin, did corruptly solicit, demand, accept, and agree to accept multiple things of value from a person, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with a transaction and series of transactions of Harrison County, involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more.
This time period just happens to be the exact same time period when Harrison County made payments to Health Assurance financial.   Sources on the Gulf Coast told JJ that State Auditor representatives copied records regarding medical contracts for Harrison County as well as travel and other records for Mr. Martin. 





February 27 post on contracts and bribery allegations
February 26 post with copy of indictment.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does Auditor say Malone and Big Irb are close to being netted?

Anonymous said...

Mary would have had them years ago.

Anonymous said...

1:08 - You're making a joke - right???

Trusting Soul said...

Bennett is clean. I know this because he always promised to be honest.

Anonymous said...

People who commit suicide really shoot themselves in the chest.



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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


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This is definitely a Beaver production.


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There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

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