Former Senator Headed Back to Finish Jail Term
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NEW YORK — A former influential state senator surrendered to corrections officials Monday and returned to jail after three months of freedom that a court decided he didn’t deserve.
A state appeals court ruled last week that Guy Velella, 60, and four others who were granted early release by the little-known Local Conditional Release Commission had been freed illegally.
Velella, a Republican who was a powerful figure in state and local politics for nearly 30 years, had served just over three months of a yearlong sentence for accepting bribes from public works contractors when he was freed Sept. 28.
Because the commission gives early releases to so few inmates, the decision prompted charges of special treatment.
Velella has another appeal pending.
He now is scheduled to be released in May.
His attorney, Charles Stillman, had no immediate comment Monday.
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