Los Angeles politician Richard Alarcon showed up Friday afternoon to begin his jail sentence but was sent home right away.

Instead of serving a 120-day jail sentence for his perjury and voter fraud convictions, the former L.A. city councilman was placed under house arrest for 51 days, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. She said Alarcon was fitted with an electronic monitoring device Friday.

Alarcon 61, was found guilty earlier this year of multiple felonies related to lying about where he lived so he could run for his council office.

In October, former Sen. Roderick Wright, convicted of a similar crime, showed up to begin his 90-day jail sentence but also was released almost immediately because of jail overcrowding.


In addition to jail time, Alarcon was also sentenced to 600 hours of community service -- to be performed in the 7th Council District, which he represented between 2007 and 2013 -- along with five years’ probation. He was also barred from ever holding public office again.

Alarcon had originally been ordered to begin his sentence next week, but his lawyers pushed the date up, court records show.

His expected release date from house arrest is Jan. 24, Nishida said.

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