Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. — Leake County Sheriff Greg Waggoner says he started the investigation which cost former corrections commissioner Chris Epps his job, after Epps allegedly stopped an internal investigation of a warden who eventually went to prison.
Waggoner tells The Clarion-Ledger he called U.S. Attorney John Dowdy for advice after a corrections investigator told him in 2009 that the case against Walnut Grove Transition Center warden Grady Sims was being closed. Dowdy confirms the call and says he reported it to the FBI.
Epps’ attorney, John Colette, says he understands the department completed its investigation and asked for Sims’ dismissal.
The Clarion-Ledger was not immediately able to verify whether the investigation was completed.
Waggoner says indictment decisions complete felony investigations.
A federal grand jury charged Sims with sexually assaulting a female inmate. He pleaded guilty in 2012 to witness intimidation.