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Former NJ Senator To Get Out Of Jail

WOODLAND PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- His lawyer said convicted former New Jersey state Sen. Joseph Coniglio was expected to be freed Friday after more than 16 months in a federal prison camp in Pennsylvania.

Attorney Gerald Krovatin tells The Record newspaper a judge on Thursday agreed to free Coniglio on bail while officials finalize the Paramus Democrat's release to home confinement.

A federal judge on Wednesday reduced Coniglio's 30-month sentence to 20 months because an appeals court threw out his convictions on mail fraud. The court faulted the way the case was presented to the jury. The court upheld Coniglio's extortion conviction.

Prosecutors said the 68-year-old plumber used his role on the Senate Budget Committee to channel millions to Hackensack University Medical Center in exchange for a $5,000-a-month consulting fee.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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