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Former Tennessee Politician Leaves Federal Prison

MemphisHistory.com

Former Tennessee State Senator John Ford has been released from federal prison.  The Memphis Democrat served more than four years following a bribery conviction.  A spokesman for the federal Bureau of Prisons confirms to the Commercial Appeal that Ford was released Monday from a federal prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi. 

Inmates are typically released to a halfway house six months before the expiration of their sentences.  Ford's five-year sentence expires in February. 

The long-time lawmaker, who is now 70, 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 legislature.  Ten others convicted, including four other former lawmakers, have completed their sentences.