Zurik: Former St. Tammany DA Walter Reed released from federal prison, will serve rest of his sentence at home

COVINGTON, La. (WVUE) - Former St. Tammany Parish District Attorney Walter Reed has been moved from a minimum-security prison in West Virginia and will now be serving the rest of his sentence on public corruption charges at home.

Federal prison officials confirm Reed was moved from the Federal Correctional Institution in Morgantown, West Virginia on Monday. He is now in what is called ‘community confinement’ with the prison system.

Reed’s Attorney, Richard Simmons Jr., said Reed was released under provisions of the CARES Act. The provisions in the CARES Act allow for prisoners to be moved to community confinement in either a halfway house or home confinement to alleviate space in federal prisons to slow the spread of COVID-19 in federal prisons. There is no report Reed had COVID-19.

Simmons said Reed underwent a 21-day quarantine required for prisoners to be released. Following the quarantine, Reed was flown to New Orleans on Monday and began confinement at his home in Covington.

• Former St. Tammany DA sentenced to four years in prison

Reed was sentenced in 2017 to four years in prison after being convicted on public corruption charges, following a FOX 8 Investigation titled ‘Louisiana Purchased’ which looked at questionable campaign spending by public officials.

• See more of the Lee Zurik Investigation ‘Louisiana Purchased'

In June, a New Orleans judge denied Reed’s request for compassionate release over COVID-19 concerns. Attorneys argued Reed was in poor health after developing prostate cancer and other medical issues.

The decision for a move to home confinement was made by the Bureau of Prisons and the warden of the West Virginia prison. Since March, the Bureau of Prisons has been evaluating inmate sentences and has sent 7,626 inmates to community confinement in response to COVID-19.

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