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JONI JAMESAlan Duffee, the indicted onetime head of a board that oversaw private prison contracts, pleads not guilty.
TALLAHASSEE - A former Florida prison official charged with stealing $225,000 from a state account pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court and said he had been falsely accused.
Alan B. Duffee, the former executive director of a governor-appointed board that oversaw the state's private prison contracts, was released on his own recognizance.
Duffee's trial was set for Nov. 17 before Robert Hinkle, chief judge for Northern Florida's U.S. District Court.
"My client steadfastly maintains his innocence," said Duffee's attorney, Steve Dobson. "He is not guilty of any wrongdoing."
In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, a federal grand jury charged Duffee, 39, with three counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering. It also ordered his home, a car and cash seized.
Duffee is accused of moving money from a bank account for the state agency he ran, the Florida Correctional Privatization Commission, to another bank account to which only he had access and which had not been authorized by the commission. The indictment alleges that on three occasions between May and October 2003, Duffee stole a total of $224,972.92 for his personal use.
Duffee resigned from his $68,105-a-year job in May 2004 after the Legislature voted to disband the commission amid controversy. Set up more than a decade ago when Florida first began using privately run prisons, the commission oversaw five private prisons run by two vendors.
Now the Department of Management Services oversees the prison contracts.
Joni James can be reached at 850 224-7263 or jjames@sptimes.com