NORFOLK, Va. — A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said former Norfolk city treasurer Anthony Burfoot was on home confinement after the Federal Bureau of Prisons released Burfoot. The reason for the release was concern about COVID-19 within the prison system.
Burfoot, who was a member of Norfolk City Council prior to serving as treasurer, turned himself in to U.S. Marshals in April 2017 to serve time for corruption and perjury.
A jury convicted Burfoot months earlier in December 2016 on several charges.
Federal prosecutors said Burfoot solicited money, car payments, and other items of value, in exchange for favors during his time on council.
Joshua Stueve, spokesman for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, confirmed that Burfoot had been released. Burfoot had been serving his sentence at U. S. Penitentiary (UPS) Canaan in Pennsylvania.
Although Burfoot may be home for now, he still has more than two years left to serve on his sentence. According the the Bureau of Prisons, his release date is set for May 28, 2022.
Andrew Sacks, who represented Burfoot at trial, provided this statement to 13News Now:
As Anthony Burfoot’s former trial and appellate counsel, I am pleased to hear that he has been released early from institutional confinement to rejoin his family.
The Government sought a 17 1/2-year term at sentencing. We vigorously resisted that and the Court gave him 6.
A number of factors no doubt contributed to Anthony’s early release.
However, that his initial sentence was, itself, as low as it was, compared to what the Government sought, surely went a long ways toward positioning Anthony for such an early release.
That the initial sentence was low enough to support such an early release is the best evidence of just how effective the counsel was that he received in connection with his case.
Respectfully,
Andrew Sacks
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