The attorney for Cecil McCrory, a former state legislator involved in the massive Department of Corrections bribery and kickback case, filed a motion in federal court Thursday to withdraw his guilty plea.

McCrory’s sentencing is set for Dec. 21 by U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate. The judge will decide whether to allow the plea withdrawal.

Attorney Carlos Tanner alleges that McCrory received ineffective counsel from his initial attorney when he entered the guilty plea in February 2015 to one count of bribery, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Tanner also said in the motion that McCrory was pressured into the guilty plea by then Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, who was the lead prosecutor on the Epps’ corruption case.

Former Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps and McCrory were arrested in November 2014. Epps is accused taking at least $1.4 million in bribes and kickbacks over eight years to steer more than $800 million worth of state prison contracts. McCrory, a Rankin County businessman, was accused of bribing Epps and receiving cash from contracts and consulting fees.

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unless otherwise noted, you can republish most of Mississippi Today’s stories for free under a Creative Commons license. For digital publications:

• Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
• Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

For print publications:

• You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Kayleigh Skinner for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

If you have any other questions, contact Audience Development Director Lauchlin Fields.

Cecil McCrory withdraws guilty plea in Corrections Department bribery case

by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today
December 8, 2016

<h1>Cecil McCrory withdraws guilty plea in Corrections Department bribery case</h1> <p class="byline">by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today <br />December 8, 2016</p> <p>The attorney for Cecil McCrory, a former state legislator involved in the massive Department of Corrections bribery and kickback case, filed a motion in federal court Thursday to withdraw his guilty plea.</p> <p>McCrory’s sentencing is set for Dec. 21 by&nbsp;U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate. The judge will decide whether to allow the plea withdrawal.</p> <p>Attorney Carlos Tanner alleges that McCrory received ineffective counsel from his initial attorney when he entered the guilty plea in February 2015 to one count of bribery, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.&nbsp;Tanner also said in the motion that McCrory was pressured into the guilty plea by then Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, who was the lead prosecutor on the Epps’ corruption case.</p> <p>Former Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps and McCrory were arrested in November 2014.&nbsp;Epps is accused taking at least $1.4 million in bribes and kickbacks over eight years to steer more than $800 million worth of state prison contracts. McCrory, a Rankin County businessman, was accused of bribing Epps and receiving cash from contracts and consulting fees.</p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org/2016/12/08/cecil-mccrory-withdraws-guilty-plea-in-corrections-department-bribery-case/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org">Mississippi Today</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MT_square-thumb.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=37730" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p> Copy to Clipboard

1