Our tax Dollars at work- Florida Prison style

Alan Duffee the former head of an agency overseeing Florida's prisons was indicted in Federal court. The charges involve fraud and money laundering of approximately $225,000 in state funds.

Prominent lobbyist Alan Duffee declined comment on the six-count indictment announced Wednesday by U.S. Attorney Gregory Miller and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell.

Duffee said he could not discuss the situation before meeting with his attorney, Stephen Dobson. Dobson said Wednesday night he would have to study the six-count indictment before commenting.

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The indictment alleged that Duffee set up a bank account at People's First Bank of Tallahassee in the Correctional Privatization Commission's name - without knowledge of the five commissioners - and made himself the sole signatory on the account. It said he directed the Wachovia Bank in Jacksonville to move $224,972.92 in checks and wire transfers from the repair-and-maintenance fund to the People's First account.

The Wachovia fund was made up of a percentage of monthly payments the Department of Corrections made to the companies operating the privately run prisons. The two companies operate prisons in Bay and Gadsden counties and at Lake City, South Bay and Moore Haven.

The indictment did not allege that the companies, DMS or the Department of Corrections did anything wrong. It said Duffee "did knowingly and willfully devise ... a scheme and artifice to defraud, and to obtain money and property" illegally from the prison-maintenance fund.

The article went on to say if convicted Mr. Duffee could face up to twenty years in jail.

The agency or commission Duffee chaired was abolished last year and put instead in the Department of Managerial Services. Unrelated to Mr. Duffee's fraud, an audit of DMS showed that the agency had overpaid two management companies by 13 million dollars.

Hey what's 13 million dollars to a govt. bureaucrat? Chicken feed of course. Few care how the people's money is spent. If found guilty I hope Mr. Duffee spends a long time in jail