RALEIGH (AP) -- Meg Scott Phipps was released from prison today.
Phipps was released from a federal penitentiary in Alderson, West Virginia, around 8 a-m. That word from a prison spokesman.
The Democrat pleaded guilty in federal court in 2003 to five counts of extortion, mail fraud and conspiracy. Her release date had been set for this August, but her husband says she's leaving early for good behavior. She's the last of four people sentenced to time behind bars in the influence-peddling probe to leave prison.
She'll wear an ankle bracelet through the summer while on house arrest and be permitted to leave for work at her local church.
The former agriculture commissioner and her associates were accused of accepting at least 82-thousand dollars in illegal cash payments to pay down campaign debt, while she converted some of the money to her personal use.
Some donations came from a company that later won the midway contract for the North Carolina State Fair.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
