Bob Ney moved to Cincinnati

The Associated Press reports:

CINCINNATI – Former U.S. Rep. Bob Ney has been moved from prison to a halfway house in Cincinnati, according to the federal prisons Web site.

The six-term Republican from Heath in central Ohio resigned after pleading guilty in a congressional bribery scandal. He is set for release in August, when he will have served nearly a year and a half.

He earned about nine months off his original two-year, six-month sentence because he completed treatment for alcohol problems. The move to the halfway house had been expected as a transition to Ney’s release.

Ney, 53, had been held at the Federal Corrections Institution in Morgantown, W.Va.

Messages seeking comment were left Thursday at the halfway house and at the prison.

Ney acknowledged trading his influence for golf trips, campaign donations and other gifts arranged by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates

Ney’s attorney, William Lawler, said earlier this month that Ney was making good progress and his move to halfway house was expected for his transition to full release. A message was left for Lawler on Thursday.

Under the nine-month prison treatment program Ney participated in, inmates attend meetings four hours a day, five days a week. He must continue to participate in aftercare treatment at the halfway house, a prison official said earlier.

At halfway houses, inmates can sign out for approved activities and are expected to seek employment, then must pay part of their income toward the cost of their confinement. Their whereabouts are monitored and they are subject to random drug and alcohol tests.