A second lawsuit filed by Attorney General Jim Hood against a company involved in the bribery case of former Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps has been resolved.

Global Tel*Link Corp. settled its case for $2.5 million, Hood said Tuesday.

“I am pleased with Global Tel*Link for cooperating and quickly resolving this matter with the state’s taxpayers,” Hood said in a news release. “As a company that continues to contract with the state, Global Tel*Link quickly approached our office seeking settlement after the Epps scandal. Due to their cooperation, we have now resolved this matter.”

The attorney general filed 11 civil actions on Feb. 8 accusing 10 individuals and 12 out-of-state corporations of using alleged “consultants” as conduits to pay bribes and kickbacks to then-Commissioner Epps for the awarding and retention of Mississippi Department of Corrections contracts.

“We have always acted with integrity,”  Brian Oliver, GTL’s chief executive officer said in a statement. “So why are we settling? We can spend the next three years focused on innovation or litigation. We choose innovation.”

The Reston, Va.,-based company admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.

Alere Inc., which earlier purchased Branan Medical Corp., settled with the attorney general’s office for $2 million in May.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.