KEEFE GROUP AND THE CORRUPTION IN THE ALLOCATION OF CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES CONTRACTS Keefe Group is one of the leading inmate communications company. The company has been providing the correctional facilities market with food products, electronics, products for personal care, clothing, computer services, inmate phones, pharmacy supplies and equipment, health and beauty supplies, sending money services, inmate management systems, greeting cards, commissary management, telecommunications, technology, and software among others. Keefe Group’s affiliates include Keefe Commissary Network, Access Securepak, Keefe Supply Company, IC Solutions, Advanced Technologies an Access Corrections. .The Company has been in existence since 1975. It has managed …show more content…
38 year old, Joseph Arthur Deese and 64-year-old Edward Lee Duggar pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge. The two are guilty of bribing Keefe Commissary officers and Florida prison officers. The two insurance brokers had entered into this deal in order to get part of the cash accrued from the prison business. The accused men had created a company that was supplying all the Florida prisons with canteen services. However, they had to pay prison officials Clark and Crosby up to 14,000 dollars and Keefe officials up to 260, 000 dollars annually if they wanted their business to continue in the Florida prisons. The two prison officials had to quit their jobs unceremoniously and they have even served time in federal prisons. Regardless of this, none of the Keefe Officials have been charged with any offense. One of the lawyers who is representing the defendants, Gil Schaffnit even pointed out that the Keefe Commissary has is highly connected politically. Therefore, indicting them in a bribery charge will be next to …show more content…
The task force was formed after Christopher Epps who was the previous Corrections Commissioner and Cecil McCrory who is a businessman were also indicted on corruption charges related to correctional facilities contracts. The task force recommended that the Department of Corrections in Mississippi should not allow any contracts that have not undergone bidding. The recommendations of the task force are meant to encourage transparency and discourage corruption in the correctional facilities provision system. If all the states endorse the recommendations then the bribery allegations that are being experienced by companies such as the Keefe Group will not be