Irvin Mayfield still in federal prison as Jazz Fest returns from two-year hiatus

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - As the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival returns this week from a two-year hiatus, one of its most frequent performers won’t be anywhere near a Fair Grounds stage.

Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield remains locked up in federal prison.

Mayfield, 44, will spend Jazz Fest confined in FPC Pensacola, a minimum security federal prison camp for male inmates near Perdido Bay in the Florida panhandle. Mayfield has called the facility home since reporting there on Jan. 12, 2022.

Mayfield and his musical and business partner Ronald Markham each pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud in November 2020. The pair received matching 18-month prison sentences a year later from federal judge Jay Zainey, for a scheme in which they defrauded the New Orleans Public Library Foundation of $1.3 million.

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An official at Mayfield’s prison told Fox 8 he could not provide information on the musician’s disciplinary record or enrollment in any classes or programs since his arrival three months ago.

“Presently, Mr. Mayfield is incarcerated at this facility. However, for privacy, safety or security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any inmate or group of inmates,” the official said.

Markham is serving his sentence at USP Pollock, a federal penitentiary for male offenders in Grant Parish, north of Alexandria. Markham’s facility is again allowing limited numbers of visitors. Mayfield’s, citing COVID-19 restrictions, is not.

Mayfield and Markham each have an expected release date of April 21, 2023. That would be one week before the expected first weekend of the 2023 Jazz Fest, though there has been no indication Mayfield would be invited to perform.

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