No halfway for Fumo—straight to the mansion

Former Philadelphia state senator Vince Fumo, now out of prison, won’t spend any time in a halfway house after all. Fumo will spend the next six months in house arrest in his mansion in the city’s Spring Garden section.

Fumo stopped in at the Kintock Group re-entry center on Erie Avenue Tuesday evening but soon left for home.

Why?

 Fumo’s prison term doesn’t end until February. Like every inmate, the federal Bureau of Prisons prepared a release plan for Fumo before his depature from the federal pen in Ashland, Ky., Tuesday. That called for him to report to the Philadelphia halfway house and at some point transition to home detention for the rest of his term.

Exactly when Fumo got to go home was up to the staff of the Kintock Group center where Fumo was assigned. Federal authorities say that decision is typically based on the availability of halfway house beds and the needs and circumstances of the inmate.

Fumo’s 27-room mansion will be a comfortable place to finish his term. He’s allowed to leave only for work, church, medical attention and visits to his lawyer.

Fumo served nearly four years in prison after his 2009 conviction on 137 counts of fraud, theft, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.