ST. LOUIS– Three former St. Louis aldermen are learning their fates today after pleading guilty earlier this year to their roles in a corruption scandal that rocked City Hall.

A federal judge sentenced former St. Louis Alderman John Collins-Muhammad to 45 months in prison. He also received 3 years of supervised release and a $19,5000 fine. He will remain free until he surrenders to the Bureau of Prisons.

Jeffrey Boyd was sentenced to 36 months in prison and also received 3 years of supervised release. His fine is $23,688. 

Former Board President Lewis Reed was slapped with a 45 month prison sentence, 3 years of supervised release and a $18,500 fine.

Collins-Muhammad resigned his post on the board before his indictment this past spring, while Boyd and Reed resigned in the days after the trio first appeared in court in June on charges of accepting bribes in exchange for official actions to support a tax abatement for a development project.

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones released a statment after the sentencing saying, "a federal court held Jeffrey Boyd, John Collins-Muhammad, and Lewis Reed accountable for the pain they have caused our communities. These crimes have victims: Their families, who are suffering; their constituents, whose interests they put aside in pursuit of personal profit; and our entire city, which was shaken by the brazenness of the trio’s corruption."

Jones also mentioned city agencies have already taken steps to reform past practices and increase transparency to prevent abuse in the future. She explained the LRA halted sales for the remainder of the year while it addressed internal procedures. Also, the SLDC is creating a development scorecard for incentives to make this process more clear to the public. 

Reed and Collins-Muhammad entered guilty pleas in August, with Boyd also admitting to an unrelated insurance fraud charge.

Each of the defendants made the case in court filings last week for sentences falling short of prison time, while the government cited federal sentencing guidelines that can call for at least three years behind bars for Boyd, and up to almost four years for Reed and Collins-Muhammad.