Watchdog criticizes prison purchases

July 30, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS (AP) — The former deputy director of Ohio’s prison system wrongly steered a $120,000 contract to a college fraternity brother in a deal that cost the state an extra $40,000, according to an investigative report released Wednesday.

Michael Randle, now head of the Illinois prison system, referred an Israeli company that manufactures inmate-tracking devices to Ohio company KBK Enterprises, according to the report by the state inspector general’s office.

KBK, a Columbus real estate development company, acted in this situation as the distributor of the devices to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Company President Keith Key was in a fraternity with Randle at Ohio State University in the late 1980s. The state purchased the equipment in 2004 for use by seven prison work crews.

The inspector general said Wednesday that the state could have purchased the equipment directly from the Israeli company, called Elmo-Tech, and avoided KBK’s $40,000 markup.

The equipment wasn’t popular with prison guards, Randle told investigators.

The state no longer uses the devices.

“The equipment worked OK, but technology has greatly improved since then,” prisons spokeswoman Andrea Carson told the AP. She noted the inspector general’s report did not require the Ohio Department of Corrections to change any of its policies.

The report also criticized Randle for referring Elmo-Tech to KBK and then failing to tell his superiors about his relationship with Key.

“While there are no laws expressly prohibiting a state employee from doing this, provided the employee receives no personal benefit from the purchase, the referral and subsequent purchase clearly give the appearance of impropriety,” the inspector general’s report said.

The report did not find that Randle benefited financially from his actions, which would be illegal.