Judge delays sentencing for man who bribed Epps
Published 10:30 am Thursday, April 14, 2016
- Former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps walks to the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., Monday, April 11, 2016, for sentencing over bribery charges. The former prisons chief pleaded guilty in February 2015 to money laundering and filing false tax returns. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge has delayed Thursday’s sentencing of a former prison phone consultant who pleaded guilty to bribing former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps.
Sam Waggoner was scheduled for sentencing Thursday. But Nick Bain, his defense lawyer, says prosecutors and Waggoner agreed to the delay after the judge decided Monday to hold a hearing in June to assign a value of the losses to state government because of the $1.47 million in bribes Epps took.
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Some contracts involved Waggoner, who pleaded guilty in August to one bribery count. The Carthage man says he paid more than $108,000 in kickbacks to Epps. Waggoner faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, and has agreed to forfeit $200,000.
Bain says sentencing will be reset following the June 9 hearing.
