Florida prisons scandal breaks open

[SoulTrainOz]

Ex-chief to admit kickbacks, a dozen more arrests expected


Florida's former prisons chief, ousted amid an wide-ranging investigation into criminal activity within the state corrections system, will plead guilty to accepting kickbacks, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

2 law enforcement officials close to the case also said Wednesday that new charges were expected against almost a dozen current and former prison employees. The officials requested anonymity because of a pending official announcement.

The federal charge accuses former Florida Corrections Secretary James Crosby of accepting $130,000 from a contractor over a 2-1/2-year period that ended in February, according to the documents.

Gov. Jeb Bush forced Crosby to resign in February over the scandal.

Crosby's attorney, Steven R. Andrews of Tallahassee, said his client has been in contact with federal prosecutors about the process of surrendering and setting a court date to enter a plea.

"We don't expect him to be arrested but expect him to turn himself in shortly," Andrews said.

He said Crosby had no immediate comment.

Crosby, who started in the prison system in 1975, was a former warden at Florida State Prison and headed the nation's 3rd largest corrections system.

Over the final months of his tenure as corrections secretary, the
department faced intense scrutiny over arrests related to alleged steroid abuse by guards, accusations of sexual assault and the arrest of a former minor league baseball player who was allegedly hired only to help a Florida prison employee softball team.

In March, new Corrections Department chief James McDonough fired nine prison officials after a report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement concluded that Crosby tried to shut down an investigation into possible criminal activity among employees in the prison system.

It said Crosby had threatened to review the conduct of one of his
employees -- whose father was then head of FDLE -- if the investigation continued.

State officials in May announced that the Department of Corrections would begin random testing of employees for illegal drugs, following a series of allegations of misconduct by high-ranking agency employees and guards, including a prison-based steroid peddling ring.

(source: The Associated Press)

[SoulTrainOz]

The state's former prison chief is going to prison himself, but his actions could have consequences for Gov. Bush's future.


The last time Jeb Bush and Jimmy Crosby shared the spotlight, the governor and his corrections secretary celebrated the power of faith behind prison walls.

On a crisp fall morning at a prison in rural Wakulla County that
emphasizes religion and character, both men could ignore the tentacles of a widening criminal probe of Florida's prisons. Crosby, as shrewd a politician as the prison bureaucracy has ever produced, praised his boss' vision, and Bush returned the compliment.

"I'm thankful for the leadership of the Department of Corrections," Bush told the crowd on the day before Thanksgiving last year.

Now, in the twilight of Bush's tenure as governor, Crosby's admission that he accepted kickbacks from a vendor who ran cash prison canteen services adds a stigma of scandal to the administration and is likely to put the former prison boss behind bars.

The lingering question is whether Bush had too much faith in Crosby for too long, and it's a question that might arise if Bush ever seeks national office.

Bush demanded Crosby's resignation Feb. 10, a decision he coordinated with state and federal authorities.

"As the details come out, it'll be clear that it was the appropriate thing to do,'' the governor said at the time.

By then Crosby had been splitting kickbacks for more than a year with his friend and protege, regional prison boss Allen "A.C." Clark, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville on Wednesday.

The payments grew from $1,000 to $12,000 a month, according to court documents, and reached $130,000 before the illicit cash flow to Crosby ended in August of last year.

What investigators told Bush and when is still not known. But the governor remained publicly loyal to Crosby throughout 2005, even as revelations of steroid abuse, theft of property, no-show employees and a drunken brawl at an employee softball tournament rocked the nation's 3rd-largest prison system.

"Don't let the 'blanks' get you down," Bush told Crosby in one widely quoted meeting last fall, encouraging him to ignore mounting criticism of his leadership.

Agents began seizing cars and other property from homes of corrections employees. Three items were taken from Crosby's home. On Sept. 26, a reporter asked about "steroid issues" in the agency.

"That's like, 3 years ago," Bush replied.

"Are you confident that the DOC is being properly run?" Bush was asked.

"I am. I am," Bush said, "and if there are any particular issues that people become aware of, they'll act on them. ... Maybe you guys get the FBI investigation fact sheets that are sent out on a daily basis. We don't get those."

When the sordid details of the FBI's investigation became public
Wednesday, Bush was vacationing at his parents' vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine. A former aide said Crosby's downfall was a shattering blow to a governor, who had required executive branch employees to take a class in ethics.

"To say the governor was gravely disappointed would probably be a huge understatement," said Cory Tilley, a former deputy chief of staff for Bush. "It's the reason people are cynical about government."

Bush appointed Crosby to run the prison system on the eve of the governor's 2nd inauguration in 2003. In announcing the pick, Bush highlighted Crosby's "experience and knowledge of the system."

It was a logical choice, in one sense. Crosby replaced the icy and aloof Michael Moore, an outsider who had run prisons in Texas and South Carolina and was unpopular through the Florida prison bureaucracy.

"Jimmy" Crosby, as Bush called him, was, for better or worse, a product of the system he was hired to run. Bald, stockily built and engaging, he seemed equally at ease at a fish fry or in the halls of the Capitol.

He was a University of Florida Gator with a journalism degree. He took an intake officer's job and made his way up to become warden of Florida State Prison and held almost every job in the ranks except corrections officer. He lived in Raiford, home to one of the three huge prisons that make up what is known as the "Iron Triangle."

He was a darling of the corrections officers' union, the politically
influential Police Benevolent Association.

Crosby's appointment was wildly popular with the corrections constituency, and with politicians, too. Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, who represents thousands of prison employees, described Crosby's selection in 2003 as "a dream come true," according to the Bradford County Telegraph.

Smith, a former state attorney who is a candidate for governor, recalled that morale was at rock bottom before Crosby arrived in 2003.

"I kept thinking this would be great for morale, and for a while it was," Smith said Thursday. "To find out that the boss was getting kickbacks - it's got to be heartbreaking."

But if the selection of Crosby re-assured the rank-and-file, it carried red flags as well.

Crosby got the job despite having been warden of Florida State Prison in 1999 when inmate Frank Valdes died in his death row cell after a beating. An investigation found no evidence Crosby was involved, and several guards were acquitted of criminal charges.

He aggressively played politics. He donated money to statewide candidates, was a delegate at the 2000 Republican National Convention and organized rallies for Bush in the governor's 2002 re-election, giving his appointment the air of a patronage plum.

"He never should have appointed the guy in the first place," said Ron McAndrew , who preceded Crosby as warden of Florida State Prison and has been one of Crosby's toughest critics.

Said Bush's spokesman, Alia Faraj: "It's unfortunate that the actions of a few detract from the good work of the majority."

McAndrew, a prison consultant who lives in Dunnellon, said he e-mailed Bush "7 pages of shortcomings" about Crosby in 2003 but all he got was a phone conversation with a member of Bush's transition team, Mike Hanna, who later became Crosby's chief of staff.

McAndrew, who still talks to prison employees, said reaction to the Crosby revelations was "jubilation," a sentiment largely shared by Crosby's replacement, James McDonough.

"Did rot enter into the system? Yes. Are we purging it out? Yes,"
McDonough said. "Are we ashamed of what they did? Yes."

(source : St. Petersburg Times)

[SoulTrainOz]

head

Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday he wanted to fire former state prison head James Crosby in January as a federal investigation began enveloping Crosby and the corrections department, but the FBI asked him to hold off until it had a strong case.

Crosby, who is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to taking thousands in kickbacks from a prison vendor, was forced by Bush to resign in February and was indicted last week.

"They wanted to make sure they had the case ironclad," Bush said Monday.

"They wanted to complete their investigation ... I'm not going to step on an FBI investigation."

Bush was kept informed of the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which was also investigating wrongdoing in the state prison system. Bush said he'd been assured last fall by Crosby that he was not involved in the troubles that plagued the prison system. In Crosby's final months as secretary, the corrections department faced intense scrutiny over arrests related to alleged steroid abuse by guards, accusations of sexual assault and the arrest of a former minor league baseball player who was hired only to help a Florida prison employee softball team coached by Clark.

"If you've done something wrong, tell me now and I'll ask for your
resignation," Bush said. "Lead or get out of the way. This is an important department."

Crosby said he wanted to pray about it and discuss it with his family.

"He called me up the next week and said, 'I'm ready to go,' ready to re-enlist in essence," Bush said. "(Crosby) not only let me down, but let down the people of the state and the thousands of people who work in the Department of Corrections."

Crosby, 53, is scheduled to surrender Tuesday in Jacksonville and plead guilty to a charge of taking $130,000 in kickbacks from a prison subcontractor.

Crosby's attorney, Steven R. Andrews, did not immediately return a message left Monday on his cell phone.

As part of the agreement with the federal authorities, Crosby waived indictment and will not face any other federal charges in return for his cooperation in the ongoing investigation of the prison system.

Crosby and former corrections department regional director Allen Clark are accused of accepting kickbacks from the subcontractor over a 2 1/2-year period ending this past February.

Clark, 40, admitted in court last week that he participated in a scheme to receive 40 kickbacks from a subcontractor, who handled concessions for prison visitors over the weekend.

When Clark resigned in August, he was in charge of all state prisons in the Panhandle, which housed 24,000 inmates, about 1/3 of the state's prison population.

Clark remains free on a $50,000 signature bond, while a pre-sentence investigation is completed. A federal judge must still approve his plea agreement.

Sentencing is expected sometime in the next 3 to 4 months.

7 other current and former prison employees are facing state charges of grand theft and another a charge of accepting unauthorized compensation as part of a lengthy, wide-ranging investigation into the embattled corrections department.

(source: Associated Press)

[SoulTrainOz]

Former Corrections Department Secretary James Crosby Jr. pleaded guilty Tuesday to taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks from a prison contractor, blaming some of his actions on alcohol abuse.

After entering his guilty plea, Crosby told reporters he was ashamed of his actions. It was another step in the downfall of a man whose prison system was recently the target of several scandals and investigations.

"I apologize to everyone. What I did was wrong," Crosby said. "I wish I could take it back."

Crosby told U.S. Magistrate Marcia Morales Howard that he was being treated for alcohol abuse and high blood pressure.

"I am getting treatment," Crosby said, when asked by reporters if he was an alcoholic.

He would not give details into the kickback case.

"I made a choice. I pleaded guilty," he said. "I take responsibility for what I did."

Crosby apologized to Gov. Jeb Bush, his family and the citizens of
Florida.

"I misled Gov. Bush," Crosby said. He added that "shame" had kept him from contacting Bush after he was fired.

Crosby, 53, and his protege, Allen Wayne Clark, formerly one of the department's regional directors, were charged last week with accepting kickbacks from American Institutional Services, a company that sold snacks and drinks to prison visitors on weekends.

Crosby and Clark, who pleaded guilty Thursday to the kickback charge, were each released on a $50,000 unsecured signature bond.

While U.S. Attorney Paul Perez said Crosby and Clark could receive up to 8 years in federal prison, Crosby's lawyer, Steve Andrews, said he was hoping for a sentence of 2 years to 30 months.

Both have agreed to pay $130,000 in restitution, which is the total amount of the kickbacks, and cooperate with federal investigators. Prosecutors have not said how much each of the men received, but under federal law both are responsible for the total amount.

They could also lose their state retirement funds. Crosby received a lump-sum retirement payout of $215,000 and also receives a $66,000 annual pension.

Bush forced Crosby to resign in February, but he said Monday he wanted to fire him a month earlier. He said the FBI asked him to hold off so they could build a strong case.

"I'm disappointed. I feel bad for him. I'm disappointed that he violated the trust," Bush said Tuesday in Tallahassee.

Bush also said he was pleased that Crosby decided to admit his guilt and cooperate with investigators.

Prosecutors said Clark would accept kickbacks and deliver part of those payments to Crosby. The kickbacks totaled up to $12,000 monthly. Clark made $94,300 annually as regional director and Crosby earned about $124,000 a year as prisons chief.

Crosby stopped receiving his portion of the kickbacks after Clark
resigned, but Clark continued taking money until earlier this year, courtdocuments said.

American Institutional Services, based in Gainesville, was a subcontractor of Keefe Commissary Network in St. Louis, which had the contract to supply commissary services to inmates. At Clark's and Crosby's urging AIS was hired by Keefe to handle the cash weekend sales to prison visitors.

Federal and state agents searched AIS offices in Gainesville in early June.

After the search, current corrections secretary James McDonough canceled the AIS contract.

AIS was started by Gainesville businessman and insurance agent Eddie Dugger, a longtime friend of Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Rod Smith.

In his final months as secretary, Crosby faced intense scrutiny over arrests related to alleged steroid abuse by guards, accusations of sexual assault and the arrest of a former minor league baseball player who was said to be hired only to help a Florida prison employee softball team coached by Clark.

Crosby joined the prison system in August 1975 and was the warden of several facilities. He was a popular choice when the governor tapped him to take control of the department in 2003.

Crosby was in charge of Florida State Prison when death row inmate Frank Valdes died after being beaten in his cell in July 1999. Crosby was on vacation at the time, but is among those being sued in federal court by Valdes' family. Several of the guards were acquitted in trials in Bradford County and prosecutors dropped charges against other corrections officers.

Raised in the area known as "the iron triangle," Crosby was also
interested in politics, serving as mayor of Starke and working as a local volunteer for George W. Bush's 2000 election campaign. He was a delegate to the Republican convention in 2000 that nominated the president.

(source: Associated Press)

[SoulTrainOz]

Does Gov. Jeb Bush think we are dumb? As anyone who reads the newspaper knows full well, numerous Bush appointees have left under shady circumstances and revelations of corruption.

He should be remembered for appointing one incompetent or corrupt person after another to run Florida's vital agencies.

And now Bush ends his reign of administrative terror with the shameful disgrace of Department of Corrections honcho James Crosby and his silly excuse that he defended the thief because to do otherwise would interfere with state and federal investigators.

To quote U.S. Army's attorney Joe Welch's famous utterance to Senator Joe McCarthy, "Sir, have you no shame?" JACK McCARTHY

Crosby did some good for our prisoners

Former Florida Department of Corrections head James Crosby may be taking a hard fall, but as prisoner advocates and anti-death penalty activists, we found his door open and his heart compassionate. Or perhaps he just understood that treating prisoners and their advocates with dignity and respect is an appropriate management style that helps keep prisoners calm
and prison workers safe.

With Crosby's nod, we were able to hand deliver warm clothes to the death row prisoners at Florida State Prison in the winter, when it was so cold that the water in the toilets froze. In the summer, we were allowed to donate fans to all prisoners on death row, where temperatures approach 100 degrees.

Crosby hit the roof when we told him that hobby crafts had not been restored to the death row prisoners, 6 months after he had ordered that done. The latest improvement that we requested and which he agreed to and paid for was to install eating/writing surfaces in the death row cells.

That such prison conditions exist in this age is a scandal, but relief for prisoners is hardly an issue with which one can approach the current Legislature. Nevertheless, Crosby always had time to meet with us, and he ordered his regional directors and wardens to work with us.

Clearly, Crosby was not perfect, but in some ways he was exactly the person needed in that job. Now that he appears to soon be joining the ranks of the incarcerated, we hope he finds similar compassion from his jailers.

ABRAHAM J. BONOWITZ

Director, Floridians for Alternatives

to the Death Penalty

Gainesville

[e-mail]

HANNAH FLOYD

Director, Florida Death Row

Advocacy Group

Starke

[e-mail]

(source: Opinion, Tallahassee Democrat)