Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Gets Early Prison Release
Federal authorities announced on Monday (April 27) the release of former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin from prison three years early.
Nagin had been serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for corruption. A jury convicted the former politician in 2014 on corruption charges that involved wire fraud, tax evasion and bribery, among other offenses. He continues to deny any wrongdoing although federal prosecutors presented evidence that Nagin accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and gifts for contractors who wanted to do business with the city.
The early release stems from the U.S. Department of Justice’s compassionate release program in response to the spread of coronavirus in the federal prison system reports The Times-Picayune.
In March, Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons to identify inmates in low- and medium- security facilities for the program based on several criteria, including their age. Nagin is 63 years old.
Nagin served just 56 percent of his sentence before being released from the Texarkana Federal Correctional Institution in Texarkana, Texas.
Nagin’s fall from grace stunned the city he once served so diligently as mayor from 2002 to 2010. He became the face of New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
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