Paige Carter-Smith returns home on federal supervision after release from prison camp

Paige Carter-Smith, one of three defendants convicted in the FBI’s long-running public corruption probe in Tallahassee, has been released from a federal prison camp in Marianna, though she remains under federal supervision.

Carter-Smith, 57, was sentenced last year to two years in federal prison for her role in a City Hall bribery scheme involving former Mayor and City Commissioner Scott Maddox and wealthy businessman John “J.T.” Burnette. She reported in November to the prison camp in Marianna.

Back story:

• Scott Maddox, Paige Carter-Smith report to federal prison camps in public corruption case

• Scott Maddox and Paige Carter-Smith sentencing: A breakdown of the charges against them

Bureau of Prison records show Carter-Smith listed under RRM Orlando, which is the residential reentry management field office in Wildwood that oversees prisoners in central and north Florida who have been placed on home confinement or in a halfway house.

Carter-Smith returned to her home in Tallahassee on Tuesday.

Her return home marks the second time over roughly a month that defendants in the corruption case have been moved. Maddox, who was sentenced to five years, was transferred a month or so ago from the prison camp in Talladega, Alabama, to a more desirable prison camp in Pensacola.

Maddox transferred: Former City Commissioner Scott Maddox transferred to 'cushy' federal prison in Pensacola

Former inmate: Carter-Smith likely wearing ankle monitor, restricted to property

Federal inmates get 15% taken off their sentence within a few weeks of reporting to prison as part of their guaranteed good time, said Sam Mangel, a former convict who helps federal inmates and their families navigate the system. That would have brought Carter-Smith’s time from 24 months to a “net sentence” of 20 months.

Under the federal CARES Act, nonviolent inmates such as Carter-Smith can be moved to home confinement or a halfway house after serving 25% of their net sentence. To qualify, they must have less than 18 months to serve or have served half their sentence.

If Carter-Smith were on home confinement, Mangel said she likely would be wearing an ankle monitor and restricted to her property with limited exceptions. Mangel served time in a federal prison camp in Miami for insurance fraud before he was put on home confinement himself.

“If she’s on home confinement, she can go to work to an approved job for 50 hours a week,” Mangel said. “She can go to doctor’s appointments and religious services. She can usually get out for one hour a day for exercise and any other approved appointments.”

The Bureau of Prisons lists Carter-Smith’s release date as July 13, 2023.

Federal inmates can be placed on home confinement if they have been convicted of crimes that are not violent and have a low recidivism test score, according to a 2021 Bureau of Prisons memo. The vulnerability of inmates to COVID-19 is also taken into consideration.

Maddox and Carter-Smith were indicted in 2018 and pleaded guilty the following year as part of a cooperation deal with federal prosecutors. Last summer, they testified against Burnette during his trial at the U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee.

Burnette, who was convicted by a jury and sentenced to three years, is being held at the prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama. A federal appeals court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in his case in September.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee corruption case: Paige Carter-Smith out of prison camp