Fred Monem was in charge of purchasing food for the Oregon Department of Corrections until his arrest for accepting bribes. While he was receiving awards from the state for one of the lowest amounts spent on food per prisoner in the country, the federal government alleges that he and his wife took over a million dollars in bribes and kickbacks from food distributors. On July 18, a federal judge charged Mr. Monem and his wife, Karen Monem, with conspiring to commit bribery.

Ms. Monem has been arrested, but Fred Monem flew to Buffalo after selling a $25,000 boat and emptying one of his accounts. He hasn’t been seen since. Four people who worked for the food distributors have plead guilty to bribing Mr. Monem. The maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This news report was based on stories from the Bend Weekly, Ex-Oregon prison administrator, wife, accused of taking $1-million in bribes [1]
and Oregon Public Broadcasting, Former Prison Food Manager on the Lam [2]  If the links are broken, check the archives.