BATON ROUGE- Former St. Gabriel Mayor George Grace Sr., convicted in a federal bribery sting, was released from federal prison Thursday. 

John McLindon, Grace's attorney, says Grace was released into a halfway house Wednesday, May 27. 

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) began immediately reviewing all inmates who have COVID-19 risk factors to determine which inmates are suitable for home confinement, but it is unclear if that is associated with Grace's release.

Grace was convicted in 2012 of racketeering, bribery, and fraud charges stemming from an FBI sting operation that involved a fictitious garbage-can-cleaning service. 

He was also found guilty of obstruction of justice, making false statements to agents of the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, and using a phone in racketeering. 

Grace was acquitted on four counts of extortion, one count of wire fraud, and one count of using a telephone in aid of racketeering.

U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. of Shreveport determined Grace was responsible for four different bribery schemes, involving over $9 million. Those schemes included the extortion of businessmen seeking to do business in the city and help victims of Hurricane Katrina, The Advocate Newspaper reported in 2014.

Attorney General William Barr instructed the BOP to prioritize home confinement as an appropriate response to the pandemic in March.

“We are urgently reviewing all inmates to determine which ones meet the criteria to be suitable for home confinement as established by the attorney general,” BOP spokesman, Justin Long, said.