Tuesday, November 11, 2014

MDOC contractor fires McCrory, claims Epps said hire McCrory for $12K per month.

Management & Training Corporation (MTC) stated in a press release it terminated its relationship with Cecil McCrory, and threw former MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps under the bus, in a statement issued yesterday.  The Seethespending.org website states MTC earned  $104,668,361 from MDOC to operate several prisons.  MDOC payments to MTC do not appear on the website of the Department of Finance and Administration.*JJ obtained a copy of the statement from MTC and posted it below. The emphasis added is mine.


We’re saddened, surprised and disappointed by the allegations against former Commissioner Chris Epps. MTC was hired in 2012 to operate three prisons for the state after a competitive procurement process where multiple companies were invited to tour facilities and submit bids. MTC was brought in with the primary objective of improving the overall operations of these facilities. In 2013, we submitted a proposal to operate a fourth prison for the state during an open and competitive procurement (RFP 13-005) with the same mission.

MTC worked very closely with Mr. Epps over the last two years in implementing changes to these facilities that would improve security and the treatment of offenders. He was very involved in the management of our four contracts. He knew of the challenges we faced and was working closely with us to overcome them. In partnership with the state and with their support, MTC has made significant improvements at all four facilities and continues to make great strides.

Soon after being awarded the contracts in 2012, Mr. Epps recommended MTC work with Cecil McCrory to provide services within the state of Mississippi. Mr. Epps also made us aware of the fee McCrory had charged in the past to other contractors. MTC hired Mr. McCrory as a consultant because of his many years of experience working in the state. Mr. McCrory had been working with the previous prison contractor and other vendors so MTC felt his services would be beneficial given his knowledge and experience. MTC paid Mr. McCrory $12,000 per month for his work, after Mr. Epps told us that is what others had been paying him. MTC hires consultants in every state where we provide services to the state. Mr. McCrory’s services included working with counties to explore possible business opportunities, coordinating with local and state officials to strengthen MTC’s relationship within the state, and networking at various industry conferences. He worked at length to investigate a potential bid for a federal corrections contract in Mississippi. At no time did Mr. Epps instruct or mandate MTC to hire Mr. McCrory. In light of the indictment, MTC cancelled its contract with Mr. McCrory last week.

Each month, MTC received an invoice from Mr. McCrory and paid it in full just as we would any other invoice. 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.

We fully support the government’s investigation to learn what happened and to take appropriate action. We also believe the state of Mississippi made the right decision in reviewing all current corrections contracts including suspending the procurement process for the four private prison contracts which we hold. The integrity of contracting is of paramount importance to the state as well as to MTC. All MTC employees are required to take ethics training and are held to the highest standards of ethical conduct. We deeply regret that in this case we didn’t have any idea that improprieties may have taken place, especially in light of the significant allegations in the indictment.
 
Kingfish note: Someone in that company knows what he is doing in terms of damage control.

*One disturbing pattern has been to see the financial records of most companies in this scandal appear on Seethespending.org, yet the records are absent on Transparency Mississippi (part of the DFA website).  All state contracts and payments are supposed to appear on DFA's website, yet few payments for companies mentioned in the indictment appear. 

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

sounds legit to me,,, if anything goes beyond McCory
that implicates MTC or any one else, they will be uncovered.
The paper (cash money) trail should be obvious to track down.

I am glad that all this was uncovered. Thieves belong in the jail, not running it.

Anonymous said...

I've banged my head against the wall for a while trying to get state contracts. Perhaps my firm just isn't the right fit, or perhaps I just don't understand how to play the game.

This fiasco calls the entire state contracting system into doubt. How much is rigged? 10% or 90%?

What will the legislature do to address this?

Anonymous said...

Nice try.

someone is toast.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like MTC has a problem. Either they are complete idiots, or....

Anonymous said...

Please, they paid some random 12k a month but are innocent.

Anonymous said...

" MTC paid Mr. McCrory $12,000 per month for his work, after Mr. Epps told us that is what others had been paying him."

So what did MTC think they were paying $12,000 to McCrory for every month besides his local contacts? Did they really think his contacts alone were worth 12Gs a month? Gee whiz.

Hair du Nosef said...

Funnier than heck to see all the rats scurrying about the deck of the listing CSS Mississippi Republican as they race each other to see who can barf up their McCrory campaign contributions the fastest.

Meanwhile Feel 'Daft' Bryant is comically on a junket in Israel to discuss 'Homeland Security'. LMAO Let's wait and see if the always fustian Alan Lange, bless his heart, encourages Feel to "get a souvenir yarmulke" while he's there.

Anonymous said...

I guess it's pure coincidence the Harrell law firm burned down.

Anonymous said...

Out of a 100 million you telling me that they only got 12,000 a month someone else had to have been paid.

Anonymous said...

If everything was on the up and up why would Epps know how much private companies had paid McCrory in the past?

Anonymous said...

11:02 is probably on to something

Anonymous said...

Hey now! What's that smell?

Anyone have a guess if Epps and McCrory were the first to invite MTC to the kickback rodeo?

In defense of MTC- who could have possibly known those payments would turn out bad? I mean, if no one had been caught, who would have known?

Anonymous said...

MTC are also crooks.There hired the bag man and built the cost back into the price they charged.

Anonymous said...

So ... let me just see if I understand this.

The guy who makes the final decision on who gets the contract told MTC, "Pay this gentleman right over here $12,000 a month to influence the decision on who gets the contract. BTW, this is totally not a kickback deal. K thx, Bye."

And now, MTC's response is, "We're just as shocked as you are that this was a kickback deal."

Does that basically sum it up?

Anonymous said...

@12:10 Amen

Anonymous said...

9:55 I think that 90% of the emergency contracts are crooked deals setup to reward someone for doing the requested tasks by those in power. Much of the money from these type of deals probably is going back as campaign contributions or work in kind like running or organizing a campaign effort. Really makes you wonder how many emergency or no bid contracts you can get for running a a major campaign? Tate should look into this.

Anonymous said...

Thats how these deals work and I am sure with a wink and a nod. The contractor know full well what is going on but as no questions so that later they can say they were shocked. Also Epps was on the states contract review board which approves all state contracts.

Anonymous said...

Diddly, y'all talkin chomp-change here, 12k, diddly, my boy Henry B. makes 800k a year lobbying the legislature, I mean, I say I say, Mississippi's biggest swingers club, every year. Why boys, he just makes some phone calls, even helps that little brother of his Austin make some cash over dere, y'all talkin peanuts here about my man Epps, why, I say I say, 'ol Epps kept Marsha supplied with Mansion trustees for years, why, they was like family boys...

Anonymous said...

The MS Republicrats are rotten to their core.

Anonymous said...

$144,000/year, a handsome full time salary, paid by TMC to Mc to do what? Good grief.

Anonymous said...

This is a freaking joke for a job description:

"Mr. McCrory’s services included working with counties to explore possible business opportunities, coordinating with local and state officials to strengthen MTC’s relationship within the state, and networking at various industry conferences. He worked at length to investigate a potential bid for a federal corrections contract in Mississippi."

Investigate a potential bid?

Are you serious. This company is either complicit or guilty of utter incompetence and stupidity!

I need to sell them some swamp land, how do I get in touch with the Pres?

Anonymous said...

The higher you go up in State government the bigger the graft. Many 20 million dollar+ contracts push from the top down.

Kingfish said...

Or the company turned them in.

Anonymous said...

This is how government works. Govenor rarely appoints agency heads from within and ususually it is a supporter/fundraiser or donor. Simply a person who gave the govenor/lt gov/any state official a "donation" usually gets a job.
The state always grafts with the contract system. It doesnt even have to be an emergency or single source contract. You could draw a contract for anyone and make up a reason and it will get approved.

Anonymous said...

There is a new State accounting system called Magic and it cost 100 million dollars and does not work well. How do think that came about??

Anonymous said...

9:31. It came from a competitive bid in response to a RFP> And I bet that if they don't get it working as it should they will face the same problem as the contractor that supplied a system to DOR years ago that didn't work. They got sued and had to repay the contract plus costs.

Problem here isn't with the contracting system of state government - its with the individuals. If you have a crook making decisions, the system is not the problem, its the crook. There are too many 'emergency contracts' awarded by state agencies but that doesn't equate to all those issuing them are taking kickbacks.

But once the company has a 'suggestion' of who to hire as a consultant - they should have immediately contacted the appropriate authorities to investigate. Maybe they did - if so, cudos to them. Otherwise, they are implicit in the deal.

My bet here - much more to come. McCrory by far surely wasn't the only one paying to play.

Name Tag Please said...

This one is a hoot: McCrory was "...networking at various industry conferences."

In other words he would get wind of which agencies and service providers were holding seminars and attending conferences and he'd show up to get a name tag and collect a bag of goodies and, while there, might buttonhole a few people who he thought had checkbooks.

Then he'd show his day as a business expense and a contract-obligation met.

Phone call: "Chis. I attended that thing at the Hilton yesterday. Got us a flashlight and some key rings. Har. The chicken was dry. Thanks for the lead."

Anonymous said...

MTC in the news again. Riots in Arizona.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2015/07/04/kingman-prison-experiencing-disturbance-abrk/29716859/

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/08/07/20110807arizona-prison-private-oversight.html

"The private company that operates the Kingman prison publicly took full responsibility for last year's breakout, in which escapees were charged with the murder of an Oklahoma couple.

But behind the scenes, Management & Training Corp. clashed with the state over a litany of problems revealed after the escapes: How to improve lax security. Whether the state should pay the company for empty beds after the state, responding to the breakout, removed high-risk prisoners and quit sending new inmates there."

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2012/jul/15/private-prison-industry-exerts-political-influence-in-arizona/



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