LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Two major figures involved in an Arkansas public corruption scandal have been released to home confinement or a halfway house despite having significant time left on their prison sentences, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
The bureau confirmed Thursday that Milton “Rusty” Cranford, 59, and Oren Paris III, 52, were released by the prison system on its own accord, rather than at the direction of federal judges, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The bureau has been under orders from Attorney General William Barr to release nonviolent offenders who meet certain criteria, to ease burdens on the prison system during the coronavirus pandemic.
Cranford, a former Arkansas lobbyist, was sentenced to seven years in prison in November. He was released from a federal prison camp in Texarkana after serving less than eight months for fraud and bribery convictions.
Paris, former president of Ecclesia College, was released from a medium security prison in Marion, Illinois. He was convicted in April 2018 on one count of conspiracy and granted the right to appeal after pleading guilty to a fraud charge, admitting he took part in what prosecutors called a kickback scheme involving his school. Paris was sentenced to three years in prison in September 2018.
Cranford and Paris will remain under supervision of the Bureau of Prisons until their sentences are complete.
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