CHICAGO (WLS) — Convicted former Alderman Ed Burke was released from federal prison on Tuesday after serving less than 10 months behind bars.
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Burke was convicted on 13 felony counts including racketeering extortion and bribery. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to ABC7 that Burke was released from prison, but his exact whereabouts are not clear.
ABC7 has yet to see him at the Salvation Army halfway house.
The once-powerful alderman traded in his famous pinstriped suits for a khaki prison jumpsuit last September.
He was sentenced to serve two years in prison, and in the federal system, inmates typically serve 85% of their sentence, which would have amounted to 20 months.
But for undisclosed reasons the Bureau of Prisons released Burke from the Thomson Correctional Center in western Illinois earlier.
One former federal prosecutor mentioned that Burke’s early release might be due to federal prison reform legislation that considers age and the risk of re-offending.
“They are considered low-risk offenders,” former federal prosecutor Kalia Thompson said. “So, there’s this idea that we want to give these types of individuals a second chance or an opportunity to reintegrate into society.”
In December of 2023, Burke was found guilty by a federal jury on 13 of 14 counts of racketeering, bribery, and extortion, for abusing his position as the powerful chairman of the zoning to shake down businesses and line his own pocket.
During his sentencing, the judge reviewed hundreds of letters written on Burke’s behalf.
RELATED: Former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke requests to have federal sentence commuted for corruption convictions
Prosecutors asked the judge to send a message with the sentence that corruption does not pay.
The Bureau of Prisons releasing a statement confirming Burke has been released to community confinement, adding: “Community confinement means the individual is in either home confinement or a Residential Reentry Center (RRC, or halfway house).”
If Burke goes to a halfway house, he would only likely be here a day or so, since he’ll have a home to go to.
“With respect to him serving his sentence, this isn’t a situation,” Thompson said. “If you know he’s released that he’s going to be able to be freed about in society, he still will have very strict conditions that he will be under. He would just be serving his sentence in his home.”
Burke’s term of supervised release, according to the Bureau of Prisons is set to end around February 20, 2026.
SEE ALSO: Ed Burke, Chicago’s longest-serving alderman, reports to prison to serve sentence
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