This year Michigan has the opportunity to end its contract with Global Tel* Link (GTL), a scandal prone prison telecommunications company that some would say was built on kickbacks and backroom handshakes. Many of these exploits have been uncovered through a series of criminal investigations. While others, have either gone unnoticed or have the benefit of “willful ignorance”. Regardless of how these contracts were allowed to move forward in the first place, the public at large are often the ones who pay the price.

A couple years ago there was a riot in the streets of Detroit where hundreds of Michigan residents protested the exorbitant fees that Public Communications Services, Inc., a subsidiary of GTL, was charging for telecommunications services. The prison phones rates increased by 80% preventing loved ones from calling inmates as needed to help them stay mentally stable and connected. The spike in prices resulted from a contract between the GTL subsidiary and the Michigan Department of Correction, signed by Governor Rick Snyder.

Michigan: End Your Contract With Global-Tel Link Read the petition First Name Last Name Email Dear Governor Rick Snyder and MDOC Director Heidi Washington Hello. I am writing to you in order to express my displeasure at the fact that our state retains Global Tel*Link for its inmate communications services. Please take time to review the shocking amount of negative comments, reviews, and news articles about Global Tel*Link's services and business practices. Michigan residents have already gathered in protest of this company and Global Tel*Link's involvement in a lawsuit with the state of Mississippi gives provides further evidence that this is not a company members of our community or government should be involved with. Here are just a few of the hundreds of links out there about who Global Tel*Link really is: 1. https://action.aclu.org/global-tel 2. http://websterprogresstimes.com/2017/07/20/federal-suit-filed-against-epps-gtl/?page=2 3. https://www.humanrightsdefensecenter.org/action/news/2015/hrdcs-fcc-comment-corruption-prison-phone-industry-profiled/ I am confident you'll discover that this is a company our county does not want to be in business with. Its practices are not reflective of the views shared by Michigan residents, families of inmates, or Americans across this great country. I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my concerns. Thank you and have a blessed day. Sincerely,

Concerned Michigan Resident [signature] Sign Now 1,470 signatures

Several years later, not much has changed. Except a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, further entangling the web of corruption and extortion GTL is weaving. Recently, the state of Mississippi sued 15 corporations and 10 people for bribery and fraud in what is known as “one of the largest and longest-running criminal and civil conspiracies in Mississippi government history.”

Over the past seven years Chris Epps, Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner, accepted millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from corporations in return for prison vendor contracts. Epps awarded $800 million in public contracts to those private prison contractors. Now the state of Mississippi is suing the people and corporations involved in an attempt to win back the $800 million that is tied up in fraud and extortion.

To no surprise, one of the main vendors exposed in the scandal of the decade is GTL. Not only did the state file an $800 million-dollar lawsuit but a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of thousands of people incarcerated in Mississippi jails and their families against GTL seeking restitution for punitive damages. The lawsuit accuses GTL of allegedly funneling bribes and kickbacks to Epps through a private “consultant” named Sam Waggoner in order to avoid Mississippi law that requires competitive bidding on vendor contracts.

If the name Sam Waggoner rings a bell, then memory serves you well. He was an employee of GTL for 20 years before working as a “consultant”. Despite Waggoner departing GTL, it appears they remained friends with benefits.

To understand the mess of the situation, it is helpful to understand the law GTL was circumventing. The bidding system is a way for prison administrators to fairly and effectively weigh their options when hiring third-party contractors to provide food, commissary, telecommunication and many other services. The prisons send out a request for proposal with terms that contractors applying for the business must abide by. After vendors send in bids proposing their service agreements and a quote, the prison administrators turn down bids and choose one to move forward with.

The Government Accountability Office stated that “competition is the cornerstone of the federal acquisition system and a critical tool for achieving the best possible return.”

To stifle the bid system is to stifle our own free market economy. The lawsuit accuses GTL of allegedly bribing Waggoner to cheat and limit bidding to just them.

With the shady bribery techniques of GTL, it draws into question what kind of relationship it has with Michigan. Why does Michigan keep awarding contracts to a telecommunications company with faulty and unethical business practices? If GTL has been allegedly bribing the state of Mississippi for seven years, who else are they bribing?

This corruption needs to stop. GTL needs to be held accountable for its destruction of justice. The loved ones of the incarcerated deserve their phone call. Let’s make that happen.

Help us end prison corruption one community at a time, starting in Michigan, as we seek to put an end to price-gauging time with loved ones for profit. Let’s let our voices be heard and demand fair rates under an honest, capable provider for Michigan and join in the fight against the crooks at Global Tel*Link.