Jan. 24—Former Reading Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer, currently serving an eight-year federal sentence for his role in pay-to-play and bribery schemes, has been transferred from a federal prison in Kentucky to what is known as community confinement.

Community confinement can either mean home confinement or confinement in a federal residential reentry center, commonly called a halfway house. It is unclear which level of confinement Spencer is under.

The 76-year-old Spencer was transferred on Oct. 19 from the Federal Correctional Institution near Ashland, Ky., where he had been serving his sentence following his conviction in August 2018. His confinement is now being overseen by the Philadelphia Residential Reentry Management Office.

Officials from the office would not provide further details on Spencer’s current situation.

“For privacy, safety and security reasons, we do not disclose an individual’s specific location in community confinement, nor do we discuss their conditions of confinement, reasons for transfer or release plans,” said a statement from the office provided Wednesday.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Spencer’s release date from federal custody remains April 5, 2025.

Spencer was found guilty on Aug. 30, 2018, by a jury of seven men and five women on nine counts of bribery, one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. His conviction followed a nine-day trial at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia.

The counts stem from a pay-to-play scheme in which businessmen would exchange campaign contributions for city contracts and a bribery scheme aimed at eliminating city campaign contribution limits.

Spencer’s trial was largely centered on secret audio recordings obtained by political consultant Sam Ruchlewicz, who after being arrested by the FBI for stealing money from a political action committee wore a wire and allowed his cellphone to be tapped for a year. The result was a series of recordings that included Ruchlewicz, Spencer and others speaking hand-in-hand about campaign donations and city engineering contracts.

Spencer, a Democrat, served as mayor from 2012 to 2015.