Ex-Muncie Sanitary District official Nikki Grigsby reports to federal prison in Kentucky

MUNCIE, Ind. —The former administrator of the Muncie Sanitary District has reported to a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky.

Nikki Grigsby, 47, last month received a one-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.

She had been accused of conspiring to steer MSD contracts to the business of a co-defendant, contractor Tony Franklin, in exchange for bribes.

For subscribers: Grigsby says she was told to run Muncie Sanitary District business past 'Phil or Dennis'

The prison Grigsby reported to in recent days — 180 miles southeast of Muncie — is described as a "federal medical center with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp."

It holds about 1,260 inmates, approximately 200 of whom are assigned to the camp.

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Another participant in the bribery conspiracy reportedly referred to by conspirators as "The Program," former Muncie police officer Jess Neal, is serving a two-year sentence imposed in February.

Neal — who also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud — is being held at the Ashland Federal Correctional Institute in eastern Kentucky.

Contractor Franklin pleaded guilty to the same charge in May, but he will not be sentenced until Sept. 8.

Two other co-defendants, former MSD official Tracy Barton and ex-local Democratic Party chairman Phil Nichols, have signed plea agreements,

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Barton is scheduled to enter his guilty plea and be sentenced on June 24.

An attorney for Nichols recently filed a motion indicating his client had been diagnosed with dementia. Whether that will impact how the case proceeds remains to be seen..

While Grigsby's one-year sentence is underway, it's possible her stay in prison might prove to be significantly shorter than that.

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Last November, former Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler also received a one-year sentence after a conviction that was not directly tied to "The Program" conspiracy.

However, Tyler's theft conviction — stemming from a $5,000 payment from a contractor — was the result of the same years-long federal investigation of corruption in his administration and the MSD.

After a little more than five months of incarceration, the ex-mayor this month was released from a federal prison in West Virginia where he had been held since late December. He has apparently returned to Muncie.

Federal officials have not confirmed whether Tyler is on home detention, but records reflect he is under the supervision of a field office in St. Louis that oversees such programs.

The former mayor's sentence officially runs through Oct. 14.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Former Indiana administrator reports to federal prison in Kentucky