JASPER BUSINESS MAN AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY AND COOPERATE IN POSTSECONDARY INVESTIGATION

BIRMINGHAM, AL - James Winston Hayes, 64, of Jasper, Alabama, has been charged and agrees to plead guilty to one count of Bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of Conspiracy to commit money laundering. Hayes has agreed to plead guilty to count three of the information and will forfeit $5,000,000.00 which represents the profit of his illegal activity. The Criminal Information and Plea Agreement were filed today in U.S. District Court.
"Paying bribes, to achieve an unfair and illegal business advantage, is a path to prosecution," stated U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. "Today's plea agreement strips Hayes of the five million in profits his bribery scheme netted ACCESS. He continues to cooperate in our investigation."

Hayes was the founder and owner of ACCESS Group Software (ACCESS) located in Walker County, Alabama. ACCESS sold educational software to the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education and its subordinates. ACCESS had contracts with more than twenty-five community colleges across the State of Alabama. The Information charges, and the Plea Agreement states that Hayes bribed the Chancellor of the Alabama Department Postsecondary Education, and conspired to launder money.

Hayes, and the Chancellor of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education, who had served previously as the president of Southern Union State Community College, defrauded Southern Union State Community College by submitting false billings, which were submitted at the direction of the Chancellor, purportedly for services rendered by ACCESS. Hayes also provided, at the Chancellor's direction, things of value to the Chancellor's children.

The Plea Agreement states that from July 2002 and continuing through July 2006, Hayes corruptly gave, offered, and agreed to give things of value to the Chancellor with the intent of influencing and/or rewarding the Chancellor in connection with numerous contracts and business transactions with the Department of Postsecondary Education worth millions of dollars. Some of those things of value include:

• $124,400 to pay costs of a new home that the Chancellor was building in Opelika, Alabama;
• $23,850 for a sound system for the Chancellor's new home in Opelika, Alabama;
• $55,000 paid to the Chancellor's son-in-law, at the Chancellor's direction, for legal services to ACCESS which were not provided to ACCESS;
• $25,793.40 paid to the Chancellor's daughter by ACCESS for grading services for GED testing provided to the Alabama Postsecondary Department of Education;
• $24,418.93 paid by Hayes, at the Chancellor's direction, to the Retirement Systems of Alabama on behalf of a former Nursing School Dean at Southern Union State Community College. Hayes paid for this by submitting a fraudulent bill, at the Chancellor's direction, for computer software to Southern Union State Community College in the amount of $48,000.00. The excess was pocketed by Hayes to use in his bribery scheme with the Chancellor.

The plea agreement states that Hayes through his company, ACCESS, and the Chancellor devised a scheme to further Hayes and ACCESS business interests, and to receive compensation, and the things of value, in return for business contracts with the Alabama Postsecondary Department of Education. As a result of Hayes' bribes to the Chancellor, ACCESS' income increased exponentially from July 2002 until July 2006 totaling more than fourteen million dollars from the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education to ACCESS. ACCESS' total profit during this period was approximately $5,000,000.00.

"What we have discovered during our investigation is an attitude of greed, arrogance and entitlement on the part of individuals such as Mr. Hayes," stated Richard Minor, Acting Alabama Attorney General. "With today's plea agreement, we continue the process of recouping taxpayer monies stolen through criminal conduct."

A formal plea hearing will be set by the Court for a later date. The penalty for bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds is imprisonment for not more than 10 years, a fine of $250,000, or both. The penalty for conspiracy to commit money laundering is not more than 20 years, a fine of $500,000, or both.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Alabama Attorney General's office, Acting Alabama Attorney General Richard Minor, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant United States Attorney Miles M. Hart and Alabama Assistant Attorney General Bill Lisenby are prosecuting the case.