Former Tennessee official charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice

(The Center Square) – The former deputy commissioner of finance for the Tennessee Department of Corrections is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and to commit perjury, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Wesley Olan Landers, 55, of Cumming, Ga., is accused of providing Jeffrey Scott Wells, 54, of Canton, Ga., with confidential information about a bid on health care services for inmates between September 2018 and February 2020, according to a release.

Landers, who served as Transportation Department's deputy commissioner from 2012 until March 2020, used his personal email to provide the information to Wells, who was vice president of a company that provided health care services for inmates, according to the Justice Department.

Wells' company, which is not part of the indictment and is not named by the DOJ, won the $123 million contract in July 2020. Landers joined Wells' company as vice president of operations in March 2020, according to the release.

"This position was created specifically for Landers; it was not advertised to other candidates and neither Landers nor any other candidates were interviewed before he was hired," prosecutors said in the release.

The company, which previously provided health care services for inmates, sued Wells' company and the state of Tennessee in federal court over the contract. Wells and Landers "agreed to engage in a cover-up and to commit perjury in the federal lawsuit," the release said.

Landers deleted his personal email account, which he used to communicate with Wells using a specialized program, the DOJ said. Those emails were subpoenaed in the civil case. The two men talked about the need to hide information on new cellphones.

"They also both testified falsely under oath in their depositions, including about whether they shared documents related to the RFPs, when they last spoke, and if they communicated on WhatsApp," the news release said.

RFP is an acronym for request for proposal.

Landers and Wells were fired from the company in February 2021, the Justice Department said.

The men face up to five years in federal prison if convicted on the charges.