RONNIE SIMMONS

Ronnie Simmons, the man who was sentenced to four years in prison in connection to a bogus charity scheme, that also landed former Rep. Corrine Brown in federal prison, has been released from a halfway house, News4Jax confirmed Friday. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Simmons was released on Thursday. Simmons, who was Browns former chief of staff, pleaded guilty to charges connected to the One Door for Education charity, that became a slush fund for Brown. Brown was released from prison in April after serving less than half of her five-year sentence after her attorney argued she was especially vulnerable to coronavirus.

He's asking a federal judge to make a recommendation to the Bureau of Prisons. Typically, federal prisoners spend the last six months of their sentence in a halfway house. Simmons is scheduled to get out of a federal prison in Maryland in July 2020 and is slated to go to a halfway house in January. A halfway house placement would allow Simmons to help his mother with doctors appointments and maintain her daily living. Brown is serving a five-year sentence at a federal prison in central Florida, and is scheduled to get out in June 2022.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown's former chief of staff Ronnie Simmons has been ordered to home confinement in Maryland until he reports to federal prison next week. Simmons' confinement was ordered Tuesday by Jacksonville Judge Timothy Corrigan, who changed the terms of Simmons' bond pending his reporting to federal prison, which is scheduled for next Monday. Simmons didn't fight the order at a hearing Wednesday, and a judge made it permanent. She told the News4Jax I-TEAM that she also notified the pretrial services office inside the federal courthouse in Jacksonville. Simmons is scheduled to report back to the Annapolis courthouse on Wednesday for a formal hearing on the new peace order.