Another guilty plea has been entered in the Chris Epps prison bribery scandal.
According to Attorney General Jim Hood, Guy E. “Butch” Evans, an insurance agent licensed to do business with the state of Mississippi, settled with the state for $100,000 for his involvement in the scandal.
In a news release, Hood states that In 2012, then-Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps, through official actions, designated Evans as the “Broker of Record” for MDOC, allowing him to sell supplemental insurance policies to MDOC employees.
Knowing that Epps could rescind this designation, Evans collected more than $73,000 in profits and then made a total of $19,200 in cash payments to Epps, beginning in January 2013 and lasting for at least one year. Evans was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine after pleading guilty to one count of aiding and abetting tax fraud.
“We were able to disgorge him of his profit and then some. Crime still does not pay.” said Attorney General Hood. “I appreciate all of the hard work by the FBI in investigating these crimes. We will continue to pursue money owed the state in civil cases and continue our investigation into newly discovered matters.”
To date, General Hood has announced the recovery of $6,650,000.00 on behalf of Mississippi taxpayers related to his office’s investigations and ensuing litigation in the Epps prison bribery scandal.