Ex-Speaker Sal DiMasi Released from Prison, Returns to Boston

Former Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi has been set free Tuesday, Statehouse News reports, out of prison on compassionate release with roughly two years left on his sentence for political corruption charges.

DiMasi was being held at a low-security facility in North Carolina. He was to be released to the custody of his wife, Deborah, according to a judge's order.

He flew to Boston after his release, arriving around 5 p.m. at Logan Airport, where he was greeted by a crowd of reporters.

He was released after years in custody spent struggling against multiple bouts of cancer and treatments that left him unable to swallow without risking choking or other problems. DiMasi was to be released in 2018, convicted of extortion and conspiracy to defraud citizens.

The court issued the order last week in a 69-page ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf.

Read More: Judge Wants to Ensure No Special Treatment Involved in DiMasi Case

Court Order: Former Speaker Granted Early Release from Prison

He will live with his wife in Melrose, where he will be confined to his home with limited exceptions for the first six months.

DiMasi must stay in his home for six months. He will not be electronically monitored and "may leave his residence for any medical emergency or, with the prior approval of the Probation Office, for medical appointments and religious observances," the order stated. Upon request, after three months, DiMasi could potentially knock that requirement own from a 24-hour confinement to a "curfew," Wolf's order said.

He's additionally banned from associating with convicted co-defendant Richard McDonough, a former lobbyist, and with acquitted co-defendant Richard Vitale, an ex-financial adviser and friend. DiMasi and his family are additionally "prohibited from receiving anything of value from Vitale, to whom DiMasi directed hundreds of thousands of dollars DiMasi extorted in this case," the judge's order states.

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