By Staff
LANSING - Attorney General Mike Cox June 7 announced the donation of $300,000 in Sprint telephone calling cards to Michigan's military and their families.
The calling cards will be distributed to Marine and Army personnel serving overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan and to their families living here in the United States.
Twenty-thousand cards will be distributed to the Army - 10,000 cards for soldiers overseas and 10,000 cards to their families.
Another 10,000 cards will be given to the Marines, which will be evenly divided between Marines and their loved ones.
Cox chose the troops to receive the calling cards as part of a settlement his office reached earlier this year with Sprint Communications.
The settlement stemmed from consumer complaints that Sprint switched their telephone long distance service from another carrier to Sprint without their knowledge or approval, a practice known as "slamming."
Under terms of the settlement, Sprint will pay $1.2 million in cash and donated products to the State of Michigan and charities selected by Cox.
Army Staff Sgt. Delancie Horton also commended Cox for remembering the troops.
During 2003 and 2004, the Consumer Protection Division collected more than $600 million on behalf of Michigan.
In 2004, the division stopped more than 4400 million in utility rate increases and responded to more than 102,000 consumer complaints.
For more information on the Consumer Protection Division, go to the Attorney General's Web site: www.michigan.gov/ag.