Company CEO pleads guilty in bribery case involving jail contract, former Sheriff Bob McCabe

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – The former head of Correct Care Solutions, a Nashville-based vendor of medical services for jail inmates, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal felony charge of conspiracy.

The guilty plea comes just six weeks after a jury convicted former Sheriff Bob McCabe.

Gerard Boyle, 66, was named with McCabe in the original 2019 indictment. McCabe was charged with 11 counts related to bribery and corruption and was convicted on all counts. Boyle originally faced six counts, but as part of Wednesday’s plea agreement with federal prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

“The defendant conspired with the corrupt former Norfolk Sheriff to defraud the citizens of our community through an extensive bribery scheme involving cash, travel, entertainment, gifts, and campaign contributions,” said Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This prosecution should send a clear message to those who seek to erode the public’s trust through bribes—including government contractors who pay them and corrupt elected officials who accept them—that they will be held accountable, regardless of their wealth or position.”

Neither Boyle nor his attorney had any comment following the guilty plea when approached by 10 On Your Side.

The government says Boyle would get inside bidding information on the medical services contract for the Norfolk City Jail, beginning in 2004. In exchange, Boyle gave McCabe, gifts, money, campaign donations and travel over several years.

The contracts were worth more than $3 million each year to CCS for the first three years, but gave McCabe the ability to extend the agreement at his discretion without putting it out for bid. CCS signed another contract with McCabe’s jail in 2010.

“Gerard Boyle leveraged McCabe’s greed to unfairly game the system and get ahead of competitors. Their conspiracy to steer contracts to Boyle’s business in exchange for bribes was not only unfair to other businesses that played by the rules, but it betrayed the trust and confidence of the community,” said Brian Dugan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office. “The FBI will never allow bribery to become business as usual.”

McCabe’s sentencing is set for February 25, 2022 and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the 11 felony counts.

Boyle faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000, or twice the amount of gross gain that he realized as part of the bribery scheme, whichever is greater. Boyle’s sentencing is set for Feb. 25.