RALEIGH -- Jim Black, the former speaker of the N.C. House who was convicted on federal corruption charges, is scheduled to get out of prison in March 2011, about 11 months earlier than his original sentence.
Black, 74, pleaded guilty in 2007 to a long list of charges stemming from illegal payments he accepted from campaign contributors, including pocketing an envelope of cash handed over in a men's bathroom at a restaurant.
A Democrat from Matthews, Black was speaker a record-tying eight years before his downfall. When sentenced, his federal release date was scheduled as Feb. 24, 2012.
Information posted on the Web site of the Federal Bureau of Prisons now lists Black's projected release date as March 31, 2011, but provides no explanation for the change.
Edmond Ross, a spokesman for the federal prison system, said Tuesday that he could not comment specifically on Black's case, citing privacy restrictions. However, he said it is not unusual for an inmate's sentence to be reduced for good behavior, for completing a treatment program or because of a terminal illness.
"There are a number of reasons why an inmate might have a sentence reduced," Ross said.
Jim Craven, Black's lawyer, declined to comment Tuesday on why his client is getting out early.
Shortly after his 2007 conviction, Black's lawyers filed a request for him to receive treatment for alcoholism in prison. Successfully completing that treatment could earn a sentence reduction of up to one year.
Before going to prison, Black had denied having a drinking problem. During the 2006 fraud trial of former North Carolina lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings, prosecutors questioned Black about a dinner meeting at which he drank two vodka tonics made with Grey Goose, which he said was his favorite brand.
"I only have two drinks, ever," Black said under oath.
In 2008, President George Bush rejected a request to commute Black's sentence.
Last year, Black's lawyer tried again, petitioning a federal pardon attorney to have Black's sentence reduced on compassionate grounds. Craven wrote in a letter that the former speaker had become increasingly infirm and that his wife, Betty, has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
A former optometrist, Black is incarcerated at the federal correctional institution in Jesup, Ga., about 65 miles southwest of Savannah.
