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Michael Balsamo
Associated Press
NEW YORK Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been released from a federal prison on furlough while he awaits potential placement to home confinement, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
He has been released to his home while awaiting a final decision on whether he can serve the rest of his sentence there in home confinement, the person said. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity.
The federal Bureau of Prisons didn t provide details or a reason for the transfer, but Congress gave the Justice Department expanded powers during the coronavirus pandemic to release inmates on furlough and home confinement to prevent them from catching the virus behind bars.
AP: Former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will return to federal prison
Former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver leaves federal court, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, in New York, after attending a pretrial hearing to discuss his retrial. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is being returned to federal prison after federal authorities denied him home confinement.
Posted: May 6, 2021 2:55 PM
Updated: May 6, 2021 3:25 PM
Posted By: The Associated Press
Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is being returned to federal prison after federal authorities denied him home confinement. That s according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press.
Silver s release from prison splits Albany lawmakers PUBLISHED 6:37 PM ET May. 04, 2021 PUBLISHED 6:37 PM EDT May. 04, 2021
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Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is back home in Manhattan after serving less than a year of a prison sentence set to last until 2026.
His release has split lawmakers in a Capitol he once ruled with little question for a generation in state government. On the one hand, some lawmakers wanted to see Silver remain in prison, a sign that even after leaving office more than five years ago, the former speaker remains a lightning rod. But other lawmakers called for compassion amid word of Silver s failing health and during a pandemic.
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Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is getting released to home confinement after serving less than a year of the six-and-a-half year sentence for corruption he began last August.
The Yeshiva World first reported this morning that Silver would be released under the CARES Act, which allows federal inmates to be released to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic. “At this time the family is asking for privacy to deal with Mr. Silver s medical issues which he has some serious ones that are ongoing,” Rabbi Akiva Homnick of the criminal justice advocacy group Pidyon Shvuyai Yisroel told City & State, citing a conversation with an unnamed family member of the former speaker. “He s expected home momentarily.”