Ray Nagin

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been released from prison due to COVID-19 concerns.

Nagin was convicted on 20 counts last year and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

Fradella pleaded guilty in June 2012 to making a $50,000 payoff

Nagin's 10-year sentence began today in Texarkana.

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon reduced that sentence to five years.

The 58-year-old Democrat defiantly denied any wrongdoing at his trial.

Prosecutors are pressing for a stiff sentence.

Some of the charges carry maximum sentences of 20 years.

The jury on Wednesday convicted Nagin of 20 of 21 counts against him.

Prosecutors claim Nagin took bribes worth more than $500,000 in a string of alleged crimes that began before Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 and continued during the recovery from the catastrophic storm.

Charges include bribery, fraud and money laundering.

A fourth witness in former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's corruption trial has accused Nagin of seeking and receiving a payoff.

The Democrat served two terms as mayor before leaving office in 2010.

The long awaited trial for Ray Nagin is set to begin January 27, 2014. The former New Orleans Mayor was indicted on 21 charges of corruption, bribery, and fraud in January of 2013.

The charges announced Friday come from a City Hall corruption investigation that already has resulted in guilty pleas by two former city officials and two businessmen.

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is set to release a memoir titled, "Katrina's Secrets: Storms after the Storm."

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and two former Jefferson Parish officials are facing state ethics charges.