By Kevin P. Connolly
Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orange County businessman and two alleged accomplices from Alachua stole $1.5 million earmarked to feed Florida prisoners, state officials alleged this month.
Thomas Tomblin of Ocoee worked with Tyrone and Christy Walker of Gainesville on a scheme to siphon funds from the Florida Department of Corrections through a third party, officials alleged.
That entity, M&S Foods, is owned by the Walkers but provided nothing.
It only increased food costs under its contract with U.S. Foods, where Tomblin is a contract manager, according to state officials.
The Walkers paid Tomblin more than $700,000 for keeping M&S Foods as a vendor, Florida officials allege.
“They robbed the taxpayers of $1.5 million,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey said in a statement.
Tomblin was charged with grand theft and other felony charges and booked into the Polk County Jail.
Arrest warrants have been issued for the Walkers.
The allegations are the result of a joint investigation by Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater’s Office of Fiscal Integrity, the Florida Department of Corrections and FDLE.
M&S Foods “brought no value and served only to increase FDOC’s food costs paid under its contract with U.S. Foods,” Atwater’s office said in a statement.
If convicted, Tomblin faces a maximum penalty of 75 years behind bars. He also could be ordered to repay $1.5 million in restitution.
The Office of the Statewide Prosecutor is handling the cases.
“To steal from the state of Florida is to steal from every hardworking taxpayer in this state and such acts will not be tolerated,” Atwater said in a statement. “I applaud this partnered effort and each office’s continued work to stop this kind of fraud, waste and abuse from happening in our state.”