According to a new report in the Sacramento Bee , Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers accepted "at least 250 meals worth $3,800 over a five-year period" paid for by the embattled red light camera (RLC) vendor Redflex.

Then, those law enforcement agencies recommended that the Northern California county renew Redflex’s contract for the county’s RLC system late last year. Five out of the eight members of the law enforcement evaluation team received those free meals, the newspaper reported.

Once informed of the meals, the Sheriff's Office top brass was not happy.

"We should not be getting anything free from our vendors," Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones told the Bee. "I put the kibosh on it."

Redflex did not immediately return Ars’ request for comment.

The paper noted that Sacramento County supervisors, after being informed of the potential conflict of interest, expressed concern but did not seem interested in changing their vote.

Trouble in the Windy City

Last month, former chief executive officer of Redflex Karen Finely was indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from a contract with the city of Chicago. In addition to Finley, government prosecutors also indicted John Bills, former managing deputy commissioner at the Department of Transportation, and Bills’ friend Martin O’Malley, who was hired as a contractor by Redflex.

According to the indictment, O’Malley himself was paid $2 million for his services as a contractor, effectively making him one of the company’s highest paid workers. Much of that money was then funneled to Bills, who used it for personal gain. Via Redflex employees, Bills also acquired a Mercedes and a condominium in Arizona.

The Chicago scandal had a profound impact on the company’s bottom line. According to the company’s own financial disclosure documents, since losing the Chicago contract, Redflex’s pre-tax profits in its North American division (its corporate parent is an Australian company) have plummeted more than 33 percent—from $3.4 million in the first half of 2013 to $2.28 million in the second half. During the second half of 2013, it removed its 141 cameras from Chicago and 54 from other cities. While the company added 24 new ones, it suffered a net loss of 171 cameras. The company estimated that in the first half of 2014, it spent around $1 million as part of its own legal costs and internal investigation resulting from the Chicago contract, which eventually reached $124 million.

Overall, Redflex’s 2013 fiscal report (PDF) shows that its after-tax net profits in a six-month period have dropped by half: plummeting from $7.1 million in the first half of 2012 to $3.6 million in the first six months of 2013.

Earlier this month, Redflex lost a contract in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A related lawsuit over an RLC system, run by Redflex in Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish, is set to come before the state’s supreme court soon.

UPDATE Tuesday 11:39am CT: Jody Ryan, a spokeswoman for Redflex, told Ars that the company has instituted what it calls "industry-leading compliance process and procedures," as of March 2013.

"When we uncovered three modest situations where we had exceeded the California state statute for gifts and gratuities we provided that information to the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department," she said. "As with all Redflex customers, we offer annualized audits of gift and gratuities as part of our commitment to transparency in our working relations. For the last six years we’ve served as a public safety partner to the citizens of Sacramento. We are proud of our public safety partnership and we look forward to continuing our collective efforts"