Ethics Panel Kills Deal with Privatization Ally
Florida’s Commission on Ethics has rejected a proposed settlement with University of Florida criminology professor and privatization advocate Dr. Charles Thomas, contending a proposed $2,000 fine and other penalties are too lenient for his conflict-of-interest violations.
Meeting June 3, the nine-member commission cited two factors for rejecting the agreement, which also had called for Thomas to resign as director of the university’s Private Corrections Project and to halt his university research on the industry:
- A $3 million consulting fee Thomas will receive over the merger between Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Prison Real Estate Investment Trust.
- Concern that the state’s evaluation of the private prison industry may have been compromised. Thomas had served as a consultant to the Florida Correctional Privatization Commission (CPC), which awards and evaluates contracts.
The stipulation, which had been reached in April between Thomas and the Commission Advocate, found probable cause that a conflict of interest existed through:
- Thomas’ ownership of private corrections corporate stock at the same time he produced an annual report used by investment firms to determine the value of those stocks.
- Thomas’ employment as a consultant for the CPC at the same time he had a financial interest in the outcome of privatization of correctional facilities.
- Thomas’ $3 million contract for consulting work involving the CCA/REIT merger last year.
A date for a new hearing before Administrative Law Judge Carolyn Holifield is expected no sooner than October.
Thomas initially denied that his financial ties to CCA and the trust constituted a conflict of interest, but the stipulated agreement declared “the contractual relationships Thomas has with companies related to the private corrections industry may conflict with his duty to objectively evaluate the corrections industry. ...”
Complaints against Thomas were filed in June 1997 and December 1998 by Ken Kopczynski, a research assistant for the Florida Police Benevolent Association. He says Thomas’ reputation as an advocate for privatization is now “badly damaged,” regardless of the case’s outcome.
