‘Aggravated theft by deception’: Lawmakers continue push to prosecute former Alabama prison healthcare provider

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - State lawmakers Rep. Chris England and Sen. Bobby Singleton are continuing the push to prosecute YesCare, Alabama’s former prison healthcare provider.

The pair stood out in neon “Prosecute YesCare” T-shirts at Wednesday’s Joint Prison Oversight Committee meeting, and that was the point.

“It’s to the point where if it takes a damn T-Shirt to get out there and make people go look this stuff up and actually advocating for these changes I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” England said. “This is out of control.”

At a meeting earlier this month, an ADOC official said the company asked for an advance for two pay periods and only ended up giving out one of the two paychecks to employees.

That ADOC official said YesCare told ADOC they did “other things” with the rest of the money.

YesCare, who had a $1 billion contract through September of 2027, had their contract terminated in April.

The back of England and Singleton’s shirts featured the law they believe YesCare should be prosecuted under: Aggravated Theft by Deception of Public Funds.

“Essentially, we have what’s called Aggravated Theft by Deception,” England explained. “The people who need it the least robbed from the people that need it the most. Many of these folks still haven’t been paid to this day. Many of them worked without a paycheck not knowing if they were going to get one, and now in order to get the money they earned they have to go to court in Florida to try and get it through bankruptcy.”

England warns that issues with YesCare are just the tip of the iceberg for Alabama’s historically troubled prison system.

“In the last five years, I could show you evidence that the Department of Corrections took organs from people and gave them away,” he said. “I could give you evidence that an officer that currently works there that’s been promoted, beat a man to death and then the witness that saw it dies in ADOC custody.”

The officer England is mentioning is Lt. Roderick Gadson, who has been heavily scrutinized since the recent release of the documentary “The Alabama Solution.”

England also says the state is wasting money by defending correctional officers accused of violence.

A new research brief from the advocacy group “No More Alabama” claims that since 2020, Alabama has spent almost $70 million on legal defense and settlements tied to violence in prisons.

England says the state should have saved that money by firing those officers.

Birmingham-based provider NaphCare is now in charge of prison healthcare in Alabama.

Requests for comment have been left with YesCare, with no immediate response.

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