Ex-New Orleans mayor out of prison due to COVID-19 threat

FILE – In this Jan. 27, 2014, file photo, former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin arrives at the Hale Boggs Federal Building in New Orleans. Nagin, convicted in a corruption case and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2014, was released early due to the coronavirus pandemic. News outlets reported Nagin got out of federal prison Monday, April 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman, File)

by: The Associated Press

Posted: Apr 28, 2020 / 10:18 AM CDT

Updated: Apr 28, 2020 / 10:18 AM CDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former New Orleans mayor convicted in a corruption case has been released from prison early due to the coronavirus pandemic.

News outlets report 63-year-old Ray Nagin got out of federal prison Monday. His brother-in-law says Nagin was home with family in the Dallas area.

The former mayor was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2014. His release comes as the Federal Bureau of Prisons allows inmates who may be vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, and have served more than half of their sentence for a nonviolent crime, to be sent home.