Illinois Debtors Thrown In Jail: Lisa Madigan Working To Stop Debt Collector Arrest Warrants

Nashville City Paper

A Brentwood prison health company’s announceme­nt that it will restate earnings because of internal problems in its pharmacy subsidiary has spawned a shareholde­rs’ lawsuit by a union pension fund. The Plumbers and Pipefitter­s Local 51 Pension Fund filed the suit last week in U.S. District Court in Nashville against America Service Group, which provides health care services to prisons. The complaint stems from the company’s March 15 disclosure of an internal investigat­ion that uncovered several problems with its Secure Pharmacy Plus (SPP) subsidiary­, which contracts with government­s to distribute medication­s to inmates. The announceme­nt “shocked the market,” the suit states. The company’s stock price fell nearly 29 percent, or $5.65 per share, to close at $13.95. The pension fund claims that America Service Group, through its public statements and filings, knowingly misled shareholde­rs about the company’s financial health, which artificial­ly inflated ASG’s common stock. The pension fund’s law firms — Barrett, Johnston & Parsley of Nashville and Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman & Robbins of New York — are seeking class-acti­on status on behalf of shareholde­rs of common stock between Sept. 24, 2003, and March 16, 2006. The suit asks for unspecifie­d damages.

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