Former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon to be released from prison Sept. 15

Former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon, who pleaded guilty to a public corruption charge in 2014, is set to be released from prison on Sept. 15, a federal official told the Observer Thursday.

Cannon, a Democrat, entered Morgantown (W.Va.) Federal Correctional Institution on Nov. 18, 2014, to start a 44-month sentence. But the Observer reported last month that, based on policies and incentives available to all federal prisoners, Cannon could be back in Charlotte this month.

He will be in home confinement until Jan. 25, the official said.

A spokeswoman for the Morgantown facility declined to comment, citing prison policy. Cannon’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Cannon was charged with public corruption after taking more than $50,000 in bribes, mostly from undercover FBI agents posing as out-of-town real estate developers. The last installment – and the biggest chunk – changed hands in the mayor’s Government Center office.

The 49-year-old Democrat will spend the final months of his punishment in familiar surroundings – within the confines of the south Charlotte home he shared with his wife and two children before he became the first mayor in the city’s history convicted of public corruption.

Cannon will wear a monitoring device on his ankle and can only leave the house for work, medical reasons or church. He must find a job. If he violates the terms of release, he can be taken back into the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons for the remainder of his term.

He will remain a federal inmate until Jan. 25 when Cannon begins two years of supervised release. His original sentence also included a $10,000 fine and $50,000 in restitution, the latter covering the amount of bribes he took from undercover FBI agents over a 13-month period ending with his March 2014 arrest.

Staff writer Michael Gordon contributed.

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon to be released from prison Sept. 15."