Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is headed back to the slammer after his request to serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement was denied, the Associated Press reports. The one-time political powerbroker, who had been in prison since August serving a six-year sentence for corruption, was released on a furlough Tuesday while awaiting potential home confinement. Silver, 77, had argued that his age and poor health meant he was at a greater risk of getting COVID-19 in prison. However, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan has rejected his request for home confinement, telling the Federal Bureau of Prisons to put Silver back behind bars. Silver, a Democrat, led the state assembly for more than 20 years before he was convicted of a corrupt pay-for-play scheme with real estate developers.
