FILE PhotoMEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Former state senator John Ford has been released to a Memphis halfway house after serving four years in federal prison for his role in the Tennessee Waltz extortion scandal.
A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to The Commercial Appeal that Ford was released Monday from a federal prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi.
According to his brother, Joe Ford, the former lawmaker is at a Dierson Charities halfway house across the street from one of the family's funeral homes.
The 70-year-old former state senator went to prison in 2008 after he was convicted of taking more than $50,000 in cash from undercover agents posing as businessmen seeking favors in the Tennessee Legislature. Ten others convicted, including four other former lawmakers, have served their sentences.
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