Former Redflex CEO Gets Prison Time For Bribery

Karen Finley, the former CEO of Redflex, will go to prison for her role in a conspiracy to bribe city leaders in Ohio to secure lucrative contracts for the traffic cameras. Finley was handed a hefty sentence of 14 years behind bars. Redflex has the city-parish contract to operate cameras in Lafayette.

The legal battle is not over for the disgraced executive. According to the Chicago Tribune, Finley was fired in connection with a much larger bribery scam involving Chicago city leaders. Gifts in that case are alleged to have included a condo, a Mercedes-Benz and lavish trips. Sentencing in that case is set for next month.

Redflex, the company who runs the traffic cameras and "speed vans" in Lafayette, has been under scrutiny for many years. The contract has been re-upped every time it comes up for approval by Lafayette Consolidated Government. KPEL reported on the most recent contract renewal back in May. At that time, Councilmember Jay Castille said the extension for the Redflex program would allow time to consider new ideas about the future of the Lafayette’s automated traffic monitoring systems.

LCG and Redflex split revenue from the fines, but at last tally, 2,100 fines haven't been paid, leaving $12 million uncollected.