Ex-NC House speaker Jim Black released from prison, not yet free

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Former North Carolina House Speaker Jim Black has been released from a federal prison six months before finishing a sentence for a corruption-related conviction, his attorney said Monday.

Black walked out of the prison in Jesup, Ga., Monday and his son was returning the 75-year-old former politician to the Charlotte area, where prison authorities will decide if he will complete his sentence at a halfway house or under house arrest, Raleigh attorney Whit Powell said.

Black was scheduled to be released from prison next April and has six months left to serve.

A spokeswoman at the prison was not immediately available to confirm Black's release.