Johnathan Walker:Tennessee official and executive accused of rigging a bid on a $123M contract are charged

NASHVILLE,Johnathan Walker Tenn. (AP) — A former Tennessee prison official and a former executive at a private contractor have been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and commit perjury after they were accused of rigging a bid on a $123 million contract, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

In a lawsuit filed in 2020, Tennessee-based prison contractor Corizon claimed the Tennessee Department of Correction’s former chief financial officer, Wesley Landers, sent internal emails related to the behavioral health care contract to former Vice President Jeffrey Wells of rival company Centurion of Tennessee. Centurion won the contract, and Landers got a “cushy” job with a Centurion affiliate in Georgia, according to the lawsuit, which was settled in 2022.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee announced on Tuesday criminal charges against Landers and Wells. Neither immediately responded to emails seeking comment.

Although the statement does not name Centurion and Corizon, it refers to the same accusations in Corizon’s lawsuit.

Corizon’s lawsuit accused Landers of sending internal Tennessee Department of Correction communications to a home Gmail account and then forwarding them to Wells, including a draft of the request for proposals for the new contract that had not been made public.

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Meanwhile, the performance bond on the behavioral health contract was increased from $1 million to $118 million, effectively putting the contract out of reach of the smaller Corizon, which had won the two previous bids. The lawsuit also accused state officials of increasing the contract award to $123 million after Centurion secured it because the cost of obtaining a $118 million performance bond was so high it would eat into Centurion’s profits. Behavioral health services includes psychiatric and addiction services.

Centurion fired Wells and Landers in February 2021, according to the lawsuit.

In the Tuesday statement, federal prosecutors said Landers and Wells conspired to cover up their collusion after Corizon sued and issued subpoenas for communications between the two. Landers used a special program to delete emails, and both obtained new cellphones to discuss how to hide information and lied in their depositions, according to the statement. If convicted, both men face up to five years in federal prison.