Ex-Mississippi Prisons Chief to Be Jailed Until Sentencing
A federal judge revoked the bail of Mississippi's former corrections commissioner and sent him to jail Friday to await sentencing in a corruption case after finding he had probably committed a crime when he took outdoor lights from a home he forfeited to the federal government.
Christopher Epps pleaded guilty in February 2015 to charges of money laundering and filing false tax returns over bribes. He had been free on $25,000 bond awaiting a May 24 sentencing but was arrested Tuesday and charged with burglary by police in the Jackson suburb of Flowood. The five lights and a control box are worth less than $1,000.
U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate on Friday revoked the bond and ordered Epps jailed until sentencing next May. Wingate said he believes there are no conditions that would guarantee Epps will not commit another crime.
"While Mr. Epps has been compliant all these many months, now he has determined not to be compliant," Wingate said from the bench, saying he felt Epps' history dating back to 2014 of complying with bail terms no longer applied.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mississippi-prisons-chief-jailed-sentencing-43315419