Former State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), who was twice convicted on corruption charges, will be released from prison after testing positive for COVID-19, according to court papers filed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week.
The court papers say Skelos, 72, has been symptom-free and in quarantine since April 8, and has been approved by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons for furlough and home confinement in an effort to lower prison populations and avoid spread.
Skelos, who represented the State Senate’s 9th District, was forced to vacate his seat when he and his son Adam were convicted on federal corruption charges after taking official actions to benefit two private firms in 2015, but a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned the convictions two years later.
In a retrial held in 2018, both men were again found guilty, and the elder Skelos was sentenced to four years and three months in prison. The former state senator had begun serving the term in January 2019.
Skelos will be released once the Bureau of Prisons approves his proposed residence.
