Fun Times in State Prison

Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 06:29:56 AM

Orgies? Check.

Hyper-competitive softball parties? Check.

A taxpayer-funded party pad? Absolutely!

Lest you think we're referring to a local agency/branch of government/City Hall official, we here at Riptide want to assure you that corruption happens at all levels of government. The aforementioned hijinks all happened at Florida's State Prisons. That's right, the place where they lockup the, uh, criminals.

This all came to light recently when outgoing state Prison boss James McDonough talked to CNN.

Our favorite quote:

"Corruption had gone to an extreme," McDonough said, saying it all began at the top. "They seemed to be drunk half the time and had orgies the other half, when they weren't taking money and beating each other up."

McDonough detailed how prison officials used a "waterfront ranch house built on prison grounds for a former warden with taxpayer dollars, McDonough said. The house was complete with a bar, pool table and hot tub."

During his two-year tenure as the head of Florida's prison system, he fired 90 people, demoted 280 others and watched as 40 more of the prison staff were indicted.