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Florida: Two Men Sentenced in Prison Canteen Kickback Scheme

A federal district court in Jacksonville has sentenced two men to short prison terms after they pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to paying kickbacks to former Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) Secretary James V. Crosby, Jr. and former FDOC regional director Allen Wayne Clark.

Over a two-year period, Edward Lee Dugger and Joseph Arthur Deese paid Crosby and Clark to establish a business relationship between the FDOC and Keefe Commissary Network, LLC. Dugger and Deese created a company in 2004, American Institutional Services (AIS), to act as a subcontractor for Keefe to provide canteen services at the FDOC’s prison visiting parks. [See: PLN, Feb. 2011, p.42; Dec. 2006, pp.1, 4].

In return for the contract to operate the visiting park canteens, Dugger and Deese agreed to pay Crosby and Clark $1,000 to $14,000 a month. They also agreed to pay former Keefe Commissary President Jack Donnelly and another Keefe executive, Tyler Alcorn, about $260,000 of the $1.5 million in annual revenue generated by the canteens.

Both Dugger and Deese were indicted in June 2010 and pleaded guilty. They were sentenced on January 13, 2012, with Dugger receiving 26 months in federal prison and Deese receiving 14 months. They also were ordered to forfeit a total of $232,019.11, although Keefe Commissary Network has since filed a petition claiming an interest in the forfeited funds, alleging it is still owed money by AIS from the canteen sales. See: United States v. Dugger, U.S.D.C. (M.D. Fla.), Case No. 3:10-cr-00167-TJC-MCR.

Dugger and Deese will likely be released before Crosby, who is serving eight years in federal prison and is scheduled to complete his sentence in 2015. Clark has already finished his 31-month sentence and is now operating a marina in Dixie County, Florida. [See: PLN, Dec. 2007, p.32].

Sources: www.ocala.com, www.gainesville.com

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Related legal case

United States v. Dugger