A Florida woman charged in connection with a kickback scheme involving a Maine corrections official was sentenced Monday to six months in jail, according to WGME.
Melanie High, 70, of Fort Lauderdale, will serve two years of probation and must pay $100,000 in restitution.
Another person, Gerald Merrill, 64, of Abbot, the former deputy superintendent of Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston and Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport, was sentenced last month in connection with the scheme.
From March 2014 to July 23, 2023, Merrill used state-issued credit cards to make payments to five companies controlled by High. He then received kickbacks and other payments to his personal accounts.
Merrill bought nearly $2.4 million in maintenance supplies from several vendors and most supplies were not delivered. The vendors were connected to High or people who knew her.
He was sentenced last month to 10 years in prison for the theft, with all but 5 years suspended, three years of probation and was ordered to pay $502,130 in restitution to the Maine Department of Corrections.