Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin has repeatedly stated that he has not broken any laws by personally keeping more than $750,000 allocated over three years to feed inmates in the county jail he runs and purchasing a $740,000 beach house with his wife.

"Everything that I have done is in full compliance with the law," he said via email. "As I proved with documentation during Friday's press conference, former District Attorney and Attorney General opinions have clarified that I am in full compliance."

But that may not be the case under federal law, according to lawyers and former federal officials with decades of relevant experience who spoke with AL.com.

Experts say that though the jail food funding practices appear to be legal under state law, they may in fact run counter to a number of federal laws that govern the treatment of federal inmates.

'This is theft'

Attorney John Phillips, of the Washington, D.C. law firm Phillips & Cohen, specializes in fraud against the government.

In a phone interview Saturday, Phillips said the practice of keeping the jail food funds likely ran afoul of federal law because a portion of the money was allocated by the federal government to feed immigration detainees and any other federal inmates in the Etowah County jail, also known as the Etowah County Detention Center.

The sheriff's office houses hundreds of U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement detainees in the facility via a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service. Both federal agencies declined to comment.

Phillips called Entrekin's assertion that he is legally allowed to keep any such funds "ridiculous" and said that he could be held both criminally and civilly liable for doing so.

"How can he possibly believe he can do this? This is theft; that's embezzlement," Phillips, who served as U.S. ambassador to Italy from 2014 to 2017, said. "It's amazing someone thinks they can get away with that. This to me is out-and-out theft. They're not getting what they're bargaining for here and he's actually pocketing it."

Food fight

Margot Schlanger, a University of Michigan Law School professor and former head of civil rights for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the way Entrekin spent the inmate food funds is likely illegal under federal law.

"If it's the case that the sheriff is profiting financially from providing substandard food to detainees, that would violate both the contract and ICE's standards and the Constitution," she said.

Entrekin maintains that he feeds his inmates in accordance with federal and state law.

"Each of these inmates and illegal immigrants who are housed here under an ICE program are fed balanced, nutritious meals that include fruits, vegetables and proteins," he told reporters Friday during a press conference in a room on the ground floor of the detention center.

But current and former inmates, civil rights advocates, and other observers have said for years that the food fed to inmates in the facility is sub-par and that portion sizes are too small.

As AL.com reported last week, persistent complaints about food served in the jail include that inmates are often served inadequate portions of expired or rotten food.

A November 2016 study by the Southern Poverty Law Center "found evidence of significant problems with the quality and quantity of food served to detainees" in the Etowah County jail.

"Detainees reported very small portion sizes," the study states. "Many detainees have lost weight during their time at the detention center. One man reported losing 25 pounds since his arrival at Etowah."

Entrekin denied those claims via email.

"[F]eel free to correct the insinuation that our prisoners are underfed or fed poor quality food now that those accusations have also been proven untrue," he said. During the Friday press conference, Entrekin showed reporters a tray of breakfast that he said fulfills dietary requirements and was identical to ones fed to inmates in the Etowah County jail that morning.

'A big hammer'

Attorney Sarah Alexander, an associate with the international law firm Constantine Cannon who specializes in whistleblower cases, said that the practice of sheriffs keeping excess money from the jail food fund could potentially lead to a federal False Claims Act claim.

The False Claims Act allows civil claims to be brought against contractors who misuse federal money. It allows whistleblowers who work for federal contractors to report potential fraud by their employers to the U.S. Department of Justice, which then investigates the claims without revealing the names of the whistleblowers, Alexander said.

If the DOJ finds evidence of misuse of federal funds during an investigation, it decides whether it wants to litigate the claim. If it declines to do so because of lack of resources or other concerns, the whistleblower has the option to reveal his or her identity and personally pursue the litigation.

Because claims under the False Claims Act are civil matters, violations of the act do not carry a criminal penalty. But Alexander said that there can be severe civil repercussions for violating the law.

"The penalties are quite large for False Claims Act violations. The statute provides that it's three times the damages they cost the federal government," she said.

"In addition to that, there are penalties for every single violation - around $11,000 for every single fraudulent bill sent to the federal government - in addition to being required to pay the attorney's fees of the whistleblower. It's a big hammer that the government has in its arsenal."

Some observers have suggested that perhaps the jail food funding practices could have avoided running afoul of federal laws if Entrekin had kept the federal funds separate from the state and local money and been careful not to use federal funds for any purpose other than feeding federal inmates.

But Entrekin said during his Friday press conference that he is "using it all together." He said via email Monday that he believes he has done nothing wrong.

"I am unsure who these sources and lawyers that you refer to are, but the individuals with first hand knowledge include the DA, AG and on site ICE compliance officer and there have never been any issues," he said.

Jay Town, U.S. attorney for Alabama's Northern District, provided a brief written statement in response to questions about the Etowah County jail's food funding practices and whether his office is investigating Entrekin or the sheriff's office.

"I cannot comment on the existence of a civil or criminal investigation," Town said. "I am also restricted from commenting on legislation or statutory construction, no matter how grossly absurd or positive a given statute might be."

Conflict of interest

There is also conflict of interest language in the contract between the Etowah County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals, according to Anne Hartman, an attorney with Constantine Cannon. ICE inmates are housed at the Etowah County jail via the contract.

"It's hard to say" if the inmate-feeding practices at the Etowah County Detention Center violate the conflict of interest language, Hartman said. "[Federal authorities] could sue for breach of contract."

The contract states that "[o]fficials or employees of the recipient, a sub-recipient or a contractor, shall avoid any action which might result in, or create the appearance of" any of five scenarios, including "using his or her official position for private gain" and "affecting adversely the confidence of the public in the integrity of the government or the program."

Phillips said he believes the situation in Etowah County violates the contract.

"Under federal contract law, if somebody receives federal funds for one purpose and uses them for another purpose, that's theft and that's criminal," he said. "He knowingly did it. It wasn't a mistake, it wasn't negligent."