NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Late Monday morning former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin embraced his family outside Texarkana Federal Correctional Institution. It was an emotional farewell as it is where he will begin serving his 10-year sentence.
“The loudest sound you’re ever going to hear is the clanging of a prison door when you walk in for the first time. It’s something you never forget. It resonates in your mind and your consciousness for the rest of your life,” says former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards.
The scene brings back memories for Edwards, yet he left his family behind at home before reporting to federal prison in Fort Worth and then Oakdale.
“They take away everything from you that’s precious except breath itself, but you learn how to live with it,” explains Edwards, “You learn to eat a lot of stale meat and you also buy a lot of potato chips and stuff from the commissary just to stem your appetite.”
Governor Edwards says besides the stale food, Nagin will have to deal with minimal privacy and a routine that includes some sort of job.
“I was the chief librarian, and I was getting 23 cents an hour,” says Edwards.
Edwards says Nagin’s family should visit often, write daily, and make sure his commissary account is usable.
“Because he’s allowed to shop one day a week, and he can buy ice cream which is a real luxury one day a week. He can buy food and shaving supplies and things like that,” explains Edwards.
Former Governor Edwards says he’s at a better place now than he was before he went to prison. Edwards is running for congress with a beautiful family by his side. He says the sound of the prison doors may be never escape him, “But there’s a sound that’s a lot sweeter; when they close the doors when you walk out!”
A federal judge had recommended Nagin serve his time at the federal prison in Oakdale, Louisiana, that’s where Governor Edwards was eventually transferred to. For now in Nagin’s case the Bureau of Prisons has decided against that sending him to Texarkana.
Nagin has been under house arrest at his Texas home for months. He was found guilty on 20 charges dealing with bribery, tax evasion, and money laundering.
