Former Gov. Edwin Edwards has been released from federal prison and moved to a halfway house, after serving eight years for a corruption conviction. The four-term former governor arrived in Baton Rouge this morning after leaving the Oakdale prison. The 83-year-old Democrat is assigned to a halfway house for six months, until July. Edwards went to jail in October 2002 on a 10-year sentence for a bribery and extortion scheme to rig Louisiana’s riverboat casino licensing process during his final term in office. He has maintained his innocence.
Edwards was brought to the halfway house by his daughter, Anna. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and cap. Asked how it felt to be out of prison, Edwards said, “I don’t know yet,” and refused to say anything else as he went inside.
Anna Edwards says she is ecstatic to have her father out of prison. “He promised me eight years ago that he would walk out. He kept it. He walked out,” she says. Anna Edwards says her father is in good health and that she doesn’t know if he will be required to stay in the halfway house or be granted home confinement.
