After an extensive, 15-month investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice, federal prosecutors today declined to final any federal criminal charges of fraud or public corruption in connection with Idaho’s canceled private prison contract with Corrections Corporation of America. The main reason: Though CCA submitted falsified staffing records for thousands of hours of guard duty they didn’t staff at Idaho’s largest prison, investigators found that the falsified records weren’t used to defraud the state out of payments – because the state was paid based on the number of inmates, not the number of guard staff hours. The contract allowed the state to receive damages for that type of contract violation/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise. More here.

Question: Are you surprised by this result?