LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska's corrections director is facing criticism for spending more than $54,000 on foreign-made lethal injection drugs in May that the state still hasn't received.
Members of a legislative oversight committee grilled Scott Frakes on Thursday, saying he approved the pre-payment without following typical procedures or taking steps to ensure the state could recover the money.
State officials bought the supply from Chris Harris, a distributor in India who sold execution drugs to the state in 2010. The drugs' manufacturer later accused Harris of misrepresenting how he intended to use them.
Frakes acknowledged under questioning that he allowed Harris to dictate the price of sodium thiopental and pancuronium bromide, both of which are required in Nebraska's three-drug protocol. He disputed that the state's efforts to import the drugs violate federal law.
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