GAINESVILLE, FL - Former state prisons chief James Crosby was scheduled to plead guilty Tuesday to taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks from a contractor, another step in the downfall of a man whose Corrections Department has been racked by scandals and investigations.

Crosby, 53, and his protege, Allen Wayne Clark, formerly one of the department's regional directors, were charged last week with accepting kickbacks from American Institutional Services, a company that sold snacks and drinks to prison visitors on weekends.

Clark has already pleaded guilty and is out on bond until sentencing. U.S. Attorney Paul Perez said Crosby and Clark could receive up to eight years in prison under sentencing guidelines.

Perez said both have agreed to cooperate with federal investigators and pay $130,000 in restitution, which is the total amount of the kickbacks. Prosecutors have not said how much each of the men received, but under federal law, both are responsible for the total amount.

Gov. Jeb Bush forced Crosby to resign in February, but he said Monday he wanted to fire him a month earlier. He said the FBI asked him to hold off so "they had the case ironclad."

Prosecutors said Clark would accept kickbacks and deliver part of those payments to Crosby. The kickbacks totaled up to $12,000 monthly.

According to court documents, Crosby stopped receiving his portion of the kickbacks after Clark resigned in August, but Clark continued taking money until earlier this year.

Clark made $94,300 annually as regional director and Crosby earned about $124,000 a year as prisons chief. If convicted, they could lose their state retirement funds, Perez has said. Crosby received a lump-sum retirement payout of $215,000 and also receives a $66,000 annual pension.

American Institutional Services, based in Gainesville, was a subcontractor of Keefe Commissary Network in St. Louis, which had the contract to supply commissary services to inmates. At Clark's and Crosby's urging, AIS was hired by Keefe to handle the cash weekend sales to prison visitors.

Federal and state agents searched AIS offices in Gainesville in June. After the search, current Corrections Secretary James McDonough canceled the AIS contract.

AIS was started by Gainesville businessman and insurance agent Eddie Dugger, a longtime friend of Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Rod Smith. A call to Dugger's office Tuesday was not immediately returned.

Crosby's final months as secretary were also plagued by arrests related to alleged steroid abuse by corrections officers and the arrest of a former minor league baseball player who was allegedly hired only to help a prison employee softball team that Clark coached.

Crosby joined the prison system in August 1975 and was the warden of several facilities. He was a popular choice when the governor tapped him to take control of the department in 2003.

Crosby was in charge of Florida State Prison when death row inmate Frank Valdes died after being beaten in his cell in July 1999. Crosby was on vacation at the time, but is among those being sued in federal court by Valdes' family. Several of the COs were acquitted in trials in Bradford County and prosecutors dropped charges against other corrections officers.

Raised in the area known as "the iron triangle" because of its multiple prisons, Crosby received a journalism degree from the University of Florida. He was also interested in politics, serving as mayor of Starke and working as a local volunteer for George W. Bush's 2000 election campaign. He was a delegate to the Republican convention in 2000 that nominated the president.